Handling Challenges to Faith

I was holding a conversation with someone when this person said, "I'm having some struggles with my faith." I've been told similar things over the years and the words weren't particularly shocking to me. Anyone who has taken the mantle of the Christian worldview to heart will inevitably find himself or herself at a crisis point in the course of their Christian walk.

"What are you struggling with particularly?" I asked. Thus began the process of unpacking the difficulties.

What is faith? Essentially it is confidence or trust. The Christian faith is not just a category of belief but it is a qualitative response to the message that Jesus of Nazareth is both Savior and coming King. The implications of such a proposition carry great weight. How we respond to the presentation of this truth claim, known as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will define our character and what is deemed to be our "faith", or lack thereof. A significant change in lifestyle can be said to be an indicator of "great faith" in the Gospel. Conversely, little or no change in lifestyle can be construed to imply weak faith, or worse, none at all. We must remember that faith will always have an object. We cannot simply have faith or trust, we must trust someone or something, and that for something.

What is sure is that our lifestyle is an indicator of what we do or do not "believe" in. If we believe that there will be no consequence for a particular behavior and we are inclined to engage in it, it is highly unlikely that we would refrain for no reason in particular. However, if we believe a certain behavior will result in a negative consequence, i.e. driving 30 mph over the speed limit, we will be less likely to engage such a behavior.

The reason? It's simple...we believe, or have faith, that such an action may result in a negative consequence, and we would rather avoid the consequence than engage the behavior. As the "odds" of a negative consequence or the significance of the penalty increase, the likelihood of our engaging such behavior wanes. Most people will avoid driving at speeds exceeding 30 mph over the speed limit in a thickly settled area because of the severity of the penalty for getting caught or the consequence of an error in judgment, no matter how much they enjoy speeding.

Faith in the moral realm is no different.

What would cause a person to hold to a moral code? Asked another way, what would allow a person to continue in an "immoral" state? Who gets to define what "moral" really is? Why should we conform to that standard of morality?

To say that we believe in God is not to say all that much, really. To claim to have "faith" in God's existence is, for many, a given. The evidence for the existence of God is overwhelming to the person who is of the disposition to see it. Even the Bible suggests that to "believe in one God" is not a virtue in and of itself because, "even the demons believe, and tremble" (Ja. 2:19). When a Christian says that he believes or has faith in God, what is he saying? Is he simply stating that God is there? No, not at all. Obviously Christians affirm God's existence, but we are saying a lot more than, "I believe He exists."

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of accountability and deliverance. Mankind is accountable to God for sinful behavior (as defined over against the nature of God) and is offered deliverance from the ultimate consequence of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth. If someone says that he believes the Gospel, he indicates that he agrees with it's entailments. God is good, man is fallen and in need. God loves and deliver's those who will trust in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, from the coming judgment. Believers are consequently "saved" from inevitable perdition and empowered to live a moral life (as defined by God) by the Holy Spirit.
So when a person says, "I'm struggling with my faith." what is he or she really saying? Is he saying, "I'm not sure that God really exists anymore."? Is she saying, "I"m struggling with my commitment to the entailments of the Gospel."? It could be either. I'll suggest that a good dose of Christian apologetics is in order at this point.

1. On the existence of God.

There are manifold arguments that offer powerful evidence for the existence of God. The Cosmological, Teleological, Moral, Transcendent and Ontological arguments are sufficient places to objectively, rationally answer the question of the existence of God. A person who is disposed to receive the possibility of the existence of a Creator will find more than ample justification for such a belief.

A Christian who wrestles with this question, will find valid reasons from philosophy, biology, cosmology, history, geography and other disciplines to believe in the God of the Bible. Once having satisfied the question of the likelihood of the existence of God, this person can move on to embrace the remainder of the Christian worldview, his faith being grounded in objective reality as it is perceived. It is not "blind" faith that a Christian possesses, but an informed faith.

At this point we can move on to the other possibility; struggling with the commitment to the Gospel.

2. The entailments of the existence of God.

This is a place where many will find themselves struggling with their "faith" and has more to do with the desire to believe than simply being able to believe.

Have you ever placed a bag of chips on your desk and tried to eat only one or two? There is something about that salty flavor that can draw a person back for handful after handful. Like so may Hollywood villains have cajoled, "It is futile to resist."

The Christian worldview purports that humans are fallen and susceptible to temptation and sin. Even with the presence of the Holy Spirit's enabling power, an individual retains the ability to choose whom to yield to. The Christian may yield to the temptation to sin or to the commitment to please God, which often will run counter to his or her immediate desires. It is at these crisis points that doubt can become a major issue.

Humans have been called the "great rationalizers". I believe this is true. When placed in a predicament where we want something that we shouldn't have, we will often explain away the reasons against the wisdom for such an indulgence. This is human frailty that we must all beware! It is frequently at this point of temptation that the challenges to the existence of God, or the true nature of God, may be entertained by the Christian; but not necessarily for objective reasons. Christians may entertain "doubts" regarding God simply for the legitimizing of an immoral indulgence, relationship or whatever would run contrary to what is supposed to indicate a healthy relationship with God.

Ignorance will not help in this case. We cannot "feel" our way free from such a point of conflict, even though that is the course many will take. A privatized Christianity is often the result as the Christian seeks to live in a state of contradiction justifying both a relationship with God and the engagement of an immoral activity. The answer in such a case is, again, a good ol' defense of the truth.

"What are you struggling with, specifically? Do you believe that God is there? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior? Do you believe that the Bible is the revealed Word of God?" These questions can narrow the struggle down to a specific that can be answered. It must be noted that, "I'm struggling with my faith." can be a broad statement simply indicating a spiritual struggle. A very real battle that every committed believer will realize at some time.

"What do I do when I find myself in such a crisis situation?" Answer: Objectify the situation.

Ask yourself what is really real? What do you really believe? Do you believe the Bible is true? Are you familiar with the reasons TO believe it? Do you believe that Jesus really came, died and rose from the dead? Are you familiar with the evidence FOR those claims. Find where the weakness of faith is and answer it directly. Leaving doubt undefined can allow a seemingly insurmountable obstacle for the one struggling with faith. By seeking to define in particular the nature of our "faith challenge" we will often find that we do not struggle with the basic propositions of Christianity. It may just be with our desire to commit to the entailments of the Gospel i.e. living a moral life that pleases God. Our reflection on the truths of the Christian worldview can be a great source of strength in overcoming these sorts of challenges.

As an example of what I am saying:

Consider a person who is tempted to engage an immoral act in secret such as adultery or thievery. His (or her) conscience as a believer, will not allow him to continue in this behavior "guilt free" because of the presence of God's Spirit; God sees and this person knows it. Because he cannot live in such a conflicted state, he will have a need to relieve the pressure somehow. The temptation to disbelieve in the presence of God, or in human accountability to God can become appealing to the person who desires to retain his profligate behavior. By ruling out a genuine disbelief in God an honest person can truly "get down to business" with this kind of challenge to their faith. "If God really does see and I really am accountable, I have some good reasons to refrain from licentious behavior. My faith, or confidence, is bolstered, not weakened."

When we take the "giant" of doubt down to a specific definition, we can begin to see an obstacle that really isn't so big at all. What the person may be left with is simply the raw battle with the flesh and with the help of the Holy Spirit, see it for what it is. Triumph over doubt and faithlessness is within reach! It is much easier to master our temptations when we have the confidence that the revealed truth of the Gospel is really true. There are good, objective reasons to overcome challenges to faith.

The truth will always be liberating to the one who wants to be set free. Faith in the God of the Bible will result in a display of confidence in the claims of God . The faith one places in Jesus Christ is reasonable and the struggle to maintain a morally right relationship with God is legitimized by the evidence we see and the witness of the Spirit within.

It cannot be overstated that Christian Apologetics is for the church today. I wonder, if more Christians were exposed to the many objective reasons FOR our faith, would more of us prevail against the normal temptations and "struggles with the faith" than do?

I can only believe that it would be so.