April 30, 2025 • 18 mins
In this episode of Next Door Gospel, host Peggy Griffith discusses the topic of doubt and its role in faith formation. She starts by challenging the commonly held notion that 'doubt is the enemy of faith.' Peggy highlights the story of 'Doubting Thomas' to illustrate how Jesus met Thomas in his doubt without shame, offering him what he needed to believe. She emphasizes that doubt can be a divine invitation to explore and deepen one's relationship with God. Peggy also reflects on the recent passing of Pope Francis and the importance of diverse minds in understanding faith. Concluding with a heartfelt encouragement to those in seasons of doubt, she affirms that questioning is a vital part of a profound faith journey.
00:00 Introduction and Upcoming Topics
01:12 Challenging the Notion of Doubt
02:34 The Story of Doubting Thomas
06:23 Diversity in Faith and Doubt
08:30 Reflecting on Pope Francis
11:13 Doubt as a Path to Deeper Faith
14:14 Encouragement for Those in Doubt
16:56 Conclusion and Farewell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Peggy Griffith (00:09):
Hello, and we are back at Nextdoor Gospel
exploring how the gospel storyis showing up in the ebb and
flow of our lives.
I'm your host, Peggy Griffith,and I'm so glad you've joined me
today.
Today I'm going to kick off aconversation that will likely
lead into at least a couple moreepisodes over the next few
(00:31):
weeks.
And I'd like to talk a littlebit about a topic that is
interesting, if not even alittle bit uncomfortable, and
that is a topic of doubt.
And then I'm going to go on amuch needed vacation next week.
And when I return, I'm going tocontinue to pull on this topic
(00:54):
just a little bit with someconversation that I've had with
a dear friend of mine whoidentifies an as an atheist.
So I think there's a lot ofinsight about how doubt fits
into our faith formation.
You know, there's a phrase thatI heard growing up in church
(01:16):
that always made me a little bituncomfortable.
It was, doubt is the enemy offaith.
Maybe you've heard somethingsimilar.
The implication was clear.
And that is to be a goodChristian, you need unwavering
unquestioning beliefs.
(01:38):
Many churches have creeds orstatements of faith that are
memorized and recited duringworship, and what happens if you
have questions about thesethings while oftentimes you're
met with answers, like, well,some questions just aren't meant
to be answered.
(02:00):
Or my personal favorite is,well, that's just the way it is.
I mean, that's helpful for theover analytical and overthinking
mind.
But today I wanna challenge thatnotion.
What if doubt isn't the enemy offaith at all?
(02:23):
What if doubt is actually agift?
From God, a sacred invitation toknow God more deeply.
So let's start with perhaps themost notorious doubter in the
Bible, and that's Thomas, one ofJesus, 12 disciples.
(02:46):
Now poor Thomas.
He has been saddled with thenickname Doubting Thomas for
over 2000 years, and I think hedeserves a little rebranding in
John Chapter 20, we find thedisciples hiding behind locked
doors after Jesus' crucifixionand they're fearful for their
(03:07):
lives.
Now at this point, they've heardfrom Mary Magdalene who is
confident that she has seen theLord.
And then even though we know thedoor was locked, we learned that
Jesus appears before themwounded flesh in all.
(03:28):
And while they were overjoyed tosee Jesus, I'm sure they were
rubbing their eyes a little bit.
Like, am I really seeing what Ithink I'm seeing?
Now one of the 12 disciples thatwe have come to know is Thomas.
He wasn't with them at the timewhen this happened, so as he was
(03:49):
hearing the news from hisfriends, he's like, yeah, I've
been drinking the good wine orsomething.
I mean, how many times have yousaid the words?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Thomas responded with what Ithink is perfectly natural.
(04:09):
He said, unless I see nail marksin his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and I putmy hand to his side, no, I'm not
gonna believe it.
And we often stop there in thestory and we start to shake our
heads a little.
Oh, Thomas, if only he had morefaith.
(04:33):
But the story doesn't end withThomas's doubt because later
Jesus appears again and saysdirectly to Thomas, Hey, here,
put your finger right here.
See my hands.
Put your hand right into myside.
Stop doubting and believe, andJesus met Thomas exactly where
(04:57):
he was in the midst of hisdoubt.
And Jesus doesn't shame him orreject him.
Instead, he just offered Thomasprecisely what Thomas said he
needed.
And Thomas responds with themost profound declaration of
faith that you hear in theBible.
(05:18):
And it is my Lord and my God.
And it's in that moment, I'mreminded just a few verses
earlier.
Where Mary Magdalene seeing aman outside the tomb, assuming
it to be the gardener, and whenshe realizes it is indeed Jesus.
She had a similar response Rabbimeeting teacher Mary didn't know
(05:46):
either until Jesus spoke to her,so I find it fascinating that
Jesus doesn't say.
Blessed are those who have neverdoubted.
Instead, Jesus says, blessed arethose who have not seen and yet
have believed, and in thosewords, I don't read admonishment
(06:09):
to Thomas for his doubt.
It's just that faith worksdifferently for different people
and that's okay.
This brings me to something I'vebeen reflecting on lately, and
that is that God has createdeach of us with unique minds and
(06:31):
hearts and just ways ofprocessing things.
Some of us are more natural withmystery and abstraction, and
others need concrete evidenceand logical frameworks.
Is one approach more spiritualthan the other?
I don't think so, and I, Iactually believe God delights in
(06:57):
the diversity of all thesebrilliant minds he's created,
and I'm sure he gets a littlebit tickled with all this stuff.
Jumbled up in my little no in.
The truth is God gave us theseminds and hearts capable of
(07:17):
curiosity, analysis, and yes,even doubt.
And they're part of what itmeans to be made in God's image.
Folks who are more comfortablewith mystery, they may sense
God's presence in a moreintuitive way, and they don't
feel a strong need to analyze orexplain their experiences.
(07:41):
Others are more analytical bynature, and they value evidence,
consistency, and logicalcoherence.
They want their faith to makesense intellectually and not
just emotionally.
And then there's a whole lot ofus that fall somewhere in the
middle of that.
(08:01):
And eventually I've come torealize that God is never really
asking us to become someoneelse, but rather inviting us to
just get to know him with thesebeautiful and amazing minds
we've been given.
The Apostle Paul writes inRomans chapter 12 that we should
(08:22):
be transformed by the renewingof our minds.
In the past week, I know so manyof us have been impacted in a
variety of ways by the recentpassing of Pope Francis and
while his health was ailing andwe knew this time would come, it
(08:45):
is still a hard loss for theworld.
And regardless of where onemight stand on matters of
religion, we can agree that PopeFrancis was indeed a good human.
He was a different pope.
He spoke and acted with love andgenerosity.
(09:07):
He challenged the status quo,and dare I say, he might've even
been a bit radical.
And I think that's why hispassing touched so many hearts
across religious backgroundsworldwide.
I got to thinking about the nextsteps of electing a new Pope,
(09:28):
and I thought of a movie Iwatched, hmm, maybe a month or
so ago, called Conclave.
It's a fictional movie thattakes place after the passing of
a pope.
The process of the conclave thattakes place to elect the next
Pope, I highly recommend it.
(09:50):
I thought it was great and theplot twist at the end was great,
but no real spoilers here.
But the main character isCardinal Thomas Lawrence, and
yes, it is ironic that his nameis Thomas.
But he is the overseer of theconclave.
(10:12):
And of course he is faced withall kinds of political maneuvers
and divisions.
But one of the key moments ofthis movie was his monologue
that started the proceedings.
And in the monologue he said,our faith is a living thing
precisely because it walks handin hand with doubt.
(10:35):
If there was only certainty, andif there was no doubt, there
would be no mystery andtherefore no need for faith.
Let us pray that the Lord willgrant us a Pope who doubts and
by his doubts continues to makethe Catholic faith a living
(10:56):
thing that may inspire the wholeworld.
Let him grant us a Pope who sinsand asks forgiveness and carries
on.
Now I wanna be clear aboutsomething.
I'm not suggesting that doubt isthe destination.
(11:18):
The gift of doubt isn't that weremain in perpetual questioning
and never arriving at anyconvictions for ourselves, but.
Rather, I think of doubt as avehicle that can transport us to
a deeper, more tested faith.
C.
(11:38):
S Lewis once wrote, faith is theart of holding onto things your
reason has once accepted inspite of your changing moods.
I love that definition becauseit acknowledges that faith isn't
the absence of questions.
It's the choice we get to make,to trust even when questions
(12:02):
arise.
And I'd say, think about anyrelationship that is significant
in your life.
A spouse, a dear friend, afamily member.
The depth of that relationshipisn't measured by how few
questions you've had about it.
(12:22):
But by how many seasons andchallenges it has weathered.
And the same is true of ourrelationship with God.
And one of my favorite biblicalstories about doubt comes from
Mark chapter nine.
A father brings his son who hasbeen suffering from seizures
(12:45):
since childhood, and he bringshim to Jesus for healing and
Jesus tells him.
Everything is possible for onewho believes.
And the father's response wasjust beautifully honest.
He said, I do believe, but helpme overcome my unbelief.
(13:12):
I mean, this wasn't an either orsituation.
Either you believe or you don'tbelieve.
It was a both and.
The father had mixed faith withdoubt.
I mean, after all, he would nothave brought his son to Jesus
for healing if he didn't havesome shred of faith, and Jesus
(13:35):
didn't reject him for it.
Instead, Jesus healed his son,and I think that's a prayer that
I've prayed many times in my ownlife.
In some way or another I'vesaid, Lord, I believe, but help
me in my unbelief.
(13:58):
And I have found that God isgracious to meet me there not
demanding perfect faith, but bymy side working with the mustard
seed of faith that I have.
So if you are listening today.
And you are in a season of doubtor questioning, I want to offer
(14:22):
this encouragement to youbecause you are not alone in
your questions, and it doesn'tdisqualify you from God's love
or God's presence in your life.
Throughout scripture andthroughout history.
(14:43):
Men and women of profound faithhave wrestled with doubt.
St.
Augustine questioned MotherTheresa, questioned CS l Lewis
questioned your questions, placeyou in pretty good company and
I'd ask you to consider thatsome of the greatest
(15:04):
advancements in human historyshow how doubt and questioning
even when initially resisted.
Change the world for good.
I mean, we have Copernicus whodared to suggest that the earth
was not the center of theuniverse.
(15:25):
Pastore whose work on germtheory was initially dismissed,
but revolutionized medicine andsaved countless lives on
understanding how diseases arespread.
We've got the invention ofpenicillin, the light bulb, the
printing presses, and more.
(15:46):
So all of this to say that Godis big enough for your doubts,
and in fact, I believe Godwelcomes them as opportunities
for deeper connection with you.
So Thomas' Doubt did not push.
(16:08):
Jesus away.
It invited Jesus to draw near ina new way, and that can be true
for us, and our questions canbecome the very places where we
encounter God most profoundly.
(16:29):
So let's reframe our doubt, notso much as the enemy of faith,
but as a gift we are given.
A divine invitation to seek, toknock, to ask, and ultimately to
find God in deeper ways than wecould ever do without our
(16:52):
questions.
So I thank you for joining metoday on Nextdoor Gospel.
If this episode resonated withyou, I would love to hear your
thoughts.
You can reach me through ourwebsite@nextdoorgospel.com or on
(17:12):
Instagram or on Facebook too.
And until next time, andremember, next time will be week
after next, uh, because I'mgonna take a vacation.
But I do plan on sharing somepictures on social media.
But until next time, may Godfind you.
(17:34):
Right where you are.
Questions, doubts and all.
And may the Lord bless you andkeep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift his face towardyou and give you peace.
Amen.
Hello, and we are back at Nextdoor Gospel
exploring how the gospel storyis showing up in the ebb and
flow of our lives.
I'm your host, Peggy Griffith,and I'm so glad you've joined me
today.
Today I'm going to kick off aconversation that will likely
lead into at least a couple moreepisodes over the next few
(00:31):
weeks.
And I'd like to talk a littlebit about a topic that is
interesting, if not even alittle bit uncomfortable, and
that is a topic of doubt.
And then I'm going to go on amuch needed vacation next week.
And when I return, I'm going tocontinue to pull on this topic
(00:54):
just a little bit with someconversation that I've had with
a dear friend of mine whoidentifies an as an atheist.
So I think there's a lot ofinsight about how doubt fits
into our faith formation.
You know, there's a phrase thatI heard growing up in church
(01:16):
that always made me a little bituncomfortable.
It was, doubt is the enemy offaith.
Maybe you've heard somethingsimilar.
The implication was clear.
And that is to be a goodChristian, you need unwavering
unquestioning beliefs.
(01:38):
Many churches have creeds orstatements of faith that are
memorized and recited duringworship, and what happens if you
have questions about thesethings while oftentimes you're
met with answers, like, well,some questions just aren't meant
to be answered.
(02:00):
Or my personal favorite is,well, that's just the way it is.
I mean, that's helpful for theover analytical and overthinking
mind.
But today I wanna challenge thatnotion.
What if doubt isn't the enemy offaith at all?
(02:23):
What if doubt is actually agift?
From God, a sacred invitation toknow God more deeply.
So let's start with perhaps themost notorious doubter in the
Bible, and that's Thomas, one ofJesus, 12 disciples.
(02:46):
Now poor Thomas.
He has been saddled with thenickname Doubting Thomas for
over 2000 years, and I think hedeserves a little rebranding in
John Chapter 20, we find thedisciples hiding behind locked
doors after Jesus' crucifixionand they're fearful for their
(03:07):
lives.
Now at this point, they've heardfrom Mary Magdalene who is
confident that she has seen theLord.
And then even though we know thedoor was locked, we learned that
Jesus appears before themwounded flesh in all.
(03:28):
And while they were overjoyed tosee Jesus, I'm sure they were
rubbing their eyes a little bit.
Like, am I really seeing what Ithink I'm seeing?
Now one of the 12 disciples thatwe have come to know is Thomas.
He wasn't with them at the timewhen this happened, so as he was
(03:49):
hearing the news from hisfriends, he's like, yeah, I've
been drinking the good wine orsomething.
I mean, how many times have yousaid the words?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Thomas responded with what Ithink is perfectly natural.
(04:09):
He said, unless I see nail marksin his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and I putmy hand to his side, no, I'm not
gonna believe it.
And we often stop there in thestory and we start to shake our
heads a little.
Oh, Thomas, if only he had morefaith.
(04:33):
But the story doesn't end withThomas's doubt because later
Jesus appears again and saysdirectly to Thomas, Hey, here,
put your finger right here.
See my hands.
Put your hand right into myside.
Stop doubting and believe, andJesus met Thomas exactly where
(04:57):
he was in the midst of hisdoubt.
And Jesus doesn't shame him orreject him.
Instead, he just offered Thomasprecisely what Thomas said he
needed.
And Thomas responds with themost profound declaration of
faith that you hear in theBible.
(05:18):
And it is my Lord and my God.
And it's in that moment, I'mreminded just a few verses
earlier.
Where Mary Magdalene seeing aman outside the tomb, assuming
it to be the gardener, and whenshe realizes it is indeed Jesus.
She had a similar response Rabbimeeting teacher Mary didn't know
(05:46):
either until Jesus spoke to her,so I find it fascinating that
Jesus doesn't say.
Blessed are those who have neverdoubted.
Instead, Jesus says, blessed arethose who have not seen and yet
have believed, and in thosewords, I don't read admonishment
(06:09):
to Thomas for his doubt.
It's just that faith worksdifferently for different people
and that's okay.
This brings me to something I'vebeen reflecting on lately, and
that is that God has createdeach of us with unique minds and
(06:31):
hearts and just ways ofprocessing things.
Some of us are more natural withmystery and abstraction, and
others need concrete evidenceand logical frameworks.
Is one approach more spiritualthan the other?
I don't think so, and I, Iactually believe God delights in
(06:57):
the diversity of all thesebrilliant minds he's created,
and I'm sure he gets a littlebit tickled with all this stuff.
Jumbled up in my little no in.
The truth is God gave us theseminds and hearts capable of
(07:17):
curiosity, analysis, and yes,even doubt.
And they're part of what itmeans to be made in God's image.
Folks who are more comfortablewith mystery, they may sense
God's presence in a moreintuitive way, and they don't
feel a strong need to analyze orexplain their experiences.
(07:41):
Others are more analytical bynature, and they value evidence,
consistency, and logicalcoherence.
They want their faith to makesense intellectually and not
just emotionally.
And then there's a whole lot ofus that fall somewhere in the
middle of that.
(08:01):
And eventually I've come torealize that God is never really
asking us to become someoneelse, but rather inviting us to
just get to know him with thesebeautiful and amazing minds
we've been given.
The Apostle Paul writes inRomans chapter 12 that we should
(08:22):
be transformed by the renewingof our minds.
In the past week, I know so manyof us have been impacted in a
variety of ways by the recentpassing of Pope Francis and
while his health was ailing andwe knew this time would come, it
(08:45):
is still a hard loss for theworld.
And regardless of where onemight stand on matters of
religion, we can agree that PopeFrancis was indeed a good human.
He was a different pope.
He spoke and acted with love andgenerosity.
(09:07):
He challenged the status quo,and dare I say, he might've even
been a bit radical.
And I think that's why hispassing touched so many hearts
across religious backgroundsworldwide.
I got to thinking about the nextsteps of electing a new Pope,
(09:28):
and I thought of a movie Iwatched, hmm, maybe a month or
so ago, called Conclave.
It's a fictional movie thattakes place after the passing of
a pope.
The process of the conclave thattakes place to elect the next
Pope, I highly recommend it.
(09:50):
I thought it was great and theplot twist at the end was great,
but no real spoilers here.
But the main character isCardinal Thomas Lawrence, and
yes, it is ironic that his nameis Thomas.
But he is the overseer of theconclave.
(10:12):
And of course he is faced withall kinds of political maneuvers
and divisions.
But one of the key moments ofthis movie was his monologue
that started the proceedings.
And in the monologue he said,our faith is a living thing
precisely because it walks handin hand with doubt.
(10:35):
If there was only certainty, andif there was no doubt, there
would be no mystery andtherefore no need for faith.
Let us pray that the Lord willgrant us a Pope who doubts and
by his doubts continues to makethe Catholic faith a living
(10:56):
thing that may inspire the wholeworld.
Let him grant us a Pope who sinsand asks forgiveness and carries
on.
Now I wanna be clear aboutsomething.
I'm not suggesting that doubt isthe destination.
(11:18):
The gift of doubt isn't that weremain in perpetual questioning
and never arriving at anyconvictions for ourselves, but.
Rather, I think of doubt as avehicle that can transport us to
a deeper, more tested faith.
C.
(11:38):
S Lewis once wrote, faith is theart of holding onto things your
reason has once accepted inspite of your changing moods.
I love that definition becauseit acknowledges that faith isn't
the absence of questions.
It's the choice we get to make,to trust even when questions
(12:02):
arise.
And I'd say, think about anyrelationship that is significant
in your life.
A spouse, a dear friend, afamily member.
The depth of that relationshipisn't measured by how few
questions you've had about it.
(12:22):
But by how many seasons andchallenges it has weathered.
And the same is true of ourrelationship with God.
And one of my favorite biblicalstories about doubt comes from
Mark chapter nine.
A father brings his son who hasbeen suffering from seizures
(12:45):
since childhood, and he bringshim to Jesus for healing and
Jesus tells him.
Everything is possible for onewho believes.
And the father's response wasjust beautifully honest.
He said, I do believe, but helpme overcome my unbelief.
(13:12):
I mean, this wasn't an either orsituation.
Either you believe or you don'tbelieve.
It was a both and.
The father had mixed faith withdoubt.
I mean, after all, he would nothave brought his son to Jesus
for healing if he didn't havesome shred of faith, and Jesus
(13:35):
didn't reject him for it.
Instead, Jesus healed his son,and I think that's a prayer that
I've prayed many times in my ownlife.
In some way or another I'vesaid, Lord, I believe, but help
me in my unbelief.
(13:58):
And I have found that God isgracious to meet me there not
demanding perfect faith, but bymy side working with the mustard
seed of faith that I have.
So if you are listening today.
And you are in a season of doubtor questioning, I want to offer
(14:22):
this encouragement to youbecause you are not alone in
your questions, and it doesn'tdisqualify you from God's love
or God's presence in your life.
Throughout scripture andthroughout history.
(14:43):
Men and women of profound faithhave wrestled with doubt.
St.
Augustine questioned MotherTheresa, questioned CS l Lewis
questioned your questions, placeyou in pretty good company and
I'd ask you to consider thatsome of the greatest
(15:04):
advancements in human historyshow how doubt and questioning
even when initially resisted.
Change the world for good.
I mean, we have Copernicus whodared to suggest that the earth
was not the center of theuniverse.
(15:25):
Pastore whose work on germtheory was initially dismissed,
but revolutionized medicine andsaved countless lives on
understanding how diseases arespread.
We've got the invention ofpenicillin, the light bulb, the
printing presses, and more.
(15:46):
So all of this to say that Godis big enough for your doubts,
and in fact, I believe Godwelcomes them as opportunities
for deeper connection with you.
So Thomas' Doubt did not push.
(16:08):
Jesus away.
It invited Jesus to draw near ina new way, and that can be true
for us, and our questions canbecome the very places where we
encounter God most profoundly.
(16:29):
So let's reframe our doubt, notso much as the enemy of faith,
but as a gift we are given.
A divine invitation to seek, toknock, to ask, and ultimately to
find God in deeper ways than wecould ever do without our
(16:52):
questions.
So I thank you for joining metoday on Nextdoor Gospel.
If this episode resonated withyou, I would love to hear your
thoughts.
You can reach me through ourwebsite@nextdoorgospel.com or on
(17:12):
Instagram or on Facebook too.
And until next time, andremember, next time will be week
after next, uh, because I'mgonna take a vacation.
But I do plan on sharing somepictures on social media.
But until next time, may Godfind you.
(17:34):
Right where you are.
Questions, doubts and all.
And may the Lord bless you andkeep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift his face towardyou and give you peace.
Amen.
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