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A popular story from the gospel narratives is that of “Doubting Thomas” (not Tumnus) found in John 20:24-29. It comes shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and first appearance to the disciples as a group. Thomas missed this meeting (for whatever reason;i don’t think it’s safe to speculate on why he wasn’t there) and so heard about it from the other disciples. He refused to believe, citing that only seeing Jesus with his own eyes and sticking his fingers in his Master’s nail-scarred wrists and spear-bludgeoned side would make him believe.
Typically there are two ways that most pastor’s have interpreted this. 1) Thomas is a horrible Christian example because he doubted Christ’s resurrection and the disciple’s testimonies. or 2) he’s some sort of hero because he wasn’t gullible but needed proof before he made a step of faith (this view would obviously be popular in our cynical generation that demands 100% proof for everything). Which interpretation is best? In my professional A.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies opinion, I’d say it’s neither. Let’s breakdown the text a little.
The first interpretation falls through when Jesus appears again with Thomas present. The first words out of His mouth aren’t “Thomas, you low down sinner! Why didn’t you believe?” No, His first words are, “Peace be with you!” (v. 26) I think that’s significant. He’s not necessarily mad at Thomas, He doesn’t give the doubting disciple a good head-banging, He instead pronounces peace to all those present…including Thomas.
Then He addresses Thomas personally and invites the apostle to reach into His side or into the nail prints (gross!). He doesn’t put Thomas off. He wants to reassure his faith and so gives him the honorable invite to have his doubts and suspicions done away with for good. For Thomas’ part, simply seeing Jesus was enough and he declares Him to be Lord and God (v. 28). So interpretation #1 falls through.
Now it may seem like take 2 is the obvious choice. But v. 29 throws that out the window as Jesus gently rebukes Thomas for his doubts. Thomas had to see to believe, but the happier people are those who can’t see Jesus and still believe. Faith triumphs over doubt any day of the week and Jesus extends this challenge that Thomas shouldn’t need to see with his eyes to have faith but should rather “walk by faith and not by sight.”
So what’s the middle ground? How do I define my interpretation? I think from this passage we see that it’s not evil for a Christian to doubt. There will be times of trouble in believing, no doubt about that! But how do we handle that? If someone’s struggling with doubts, what do we tell them? If I’m having doubts, what do I tell myself?
I think, first off all, we need to realize that Jesus is willing to work with us. He didn’t cast out Thomas because the guy had a black moment. He gave him the opportunity to make up for it, to work through the questions filling his mind. But I also think, secondly, that we should not revel in our doubts. Rob Bell seems to enjoy doing this. Today’s generation enjoys raising all the questions we can until we have no clue what we were originally questioning. This is unhealthy Christianity. Why seek out doubts when they’ll undoubtedly come up on their own? Remember that it is more joyous to “walk by faith and not by sight.”
I also think we need to keep the gospel in view. The closing verses of chapter 20 give John’s reason for writing the gospel. So that we might believe. When we struggle with doubts, let’s keep the gospel front and center. It was written for our faith’s sake, so let’s indulge ourselves. That said, it’s okay to doubt but don’t float among the grey clouds for long. Find a safe landing in faith in Christ.
8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.–1 Peter 1:8-9
The just shall live by faith…
In “Reformed” circles, this phrase is thrown around so often I think no one knows what it means. I used to think that it simply advocated salvation by faith alone, as Martin Luther promoted it. But in its original context of Habakkuk 2, it takes on a semi-different level of meaning.
In context, chapter 1 is a Q & A session between the prophet and God. First, Habakkuk wonders why there’s so much violence and injustice in Judah and what God planned to do about it. God responds that the injustice issue was about to be resolved when Babylon would move through the area and practically devastate it. To this Habakkuk also cries foul for how could a just and holy God use such a corrupt and proud people to enact justice? The prophet finishes his tyrade and settles down to let God speak.
And He speaks in chapter 2. The thrust of His reply is that there are two types of people: the proud man with a crooked soul, and the just man who lives by faith (v. 4). The rest of the chapter highlights how the proud man (Babylon) lives, thus contrasting him with the man of faith. In the end this answers the prophet’s complaints because although God is using Babylon to accomplish His will, He certainly doesn’t approve of the nation’s sin. There will be a day when God will sit in judgment over the nations and right all wrongs, but that day will come in its own time (see v. 20, 14, and 3). Until then, Habakkuk, be a just man and live by faith.
The point? I began studying this little book last week, which is very ironic. It’s ironic because I began studying the prophet’s questions the same week my dad dies of cancer. I, like Habakkuk, could question God. If I believe God to be sovereign and totally in control, as well as being wholly just, why would he use cancer/my dad’s death to advance the kingdom of heaven and His will? Doesn’t that seem contradictory?
But the same answer that was given centuries ago can be applied today to me. God certainly doesn’t approve of cancer and death, but there will come a day when He will right all wrongs, when His very presence will fill the earth like never before. Yet until that sweet day comes, no matter how many long hours of pain must come between, the just shall live by faith. I may not understand His will or His ways, but I can live by faith.
Is that unrealistic? I think not. A proud person cuts his own roads, makes his own shortcuts, relies on his own means. But a just person lives by faith, rests in God’s timing, walks on God’s road. I’d rather have that, and its subsequent comfort, than to be a proud man,living on the edge of a knife, questioning every single thing that God allows to happen to me in this life.
Yes, it’s time again for me to write to all 2 of you to let you know how my year went…because you really wanted to know. But first, an overall review/conclusion of 2010…disappointing. I figured this would be a special year, but not for the reasons that it became. I had great, vague expectations for this year and most of them fell through or didn’t even materialize. Looking at my reflections post from last year (click here), I’m comparing my expectations with reality:
That songwriting competition failed miserably at the end. Though I did get my song onto the resulting “album” (which was sadly only available for less than 30 days..i know,right?). I did submit a novel to a publisher but I have yet to hear back from them. Musically, nothing happened. As to the girlfriend thing…i shan’t comment. But now, how about the year in a quick review?
The opening months through March were difficult largely because of the online classes I took. I had never quite been through a period of isolation like that and hope that I never go through something like that again. Then came April and now my life coincides with the Simon & Garfunkel song “April Come She Will.” Here’s the lyrics and then I’ll sum up the connection: (listen to it here)
April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.
June, she’ll change her tune,
In restless walks she’ll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.
August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old.
April was filled with hope as the semester closed out,and was ironically a wet month. May seemed to linger for a while. June did indeed “change her tune” as family issues arose and the year took a sudden downward turn. July flew by with some interesting developments (both good and bad) and didn’t bother to stay long.
August was, strangely, my best month this year. For a few weeks I was happy, being back in Louisville with friends and my church, and for other reasons. It was a shame that she had to “die” (though it was not a month with “autumn winds blowing chilly and cold”). The cold came in September when everything collapsed and my euphoric moment of happiness faded like the morning fog. Reality back home jumped in and reminded me that there were issues that I just couldn’t ignore along with things in Louisville taking a “curveball” turn. Indeed, September of 2’10, I will remember, “a love once new has now grown old.”
From October-November I struggled between finishing school and being a support at home. My happy return to Boyce was dashed and with it any hopes of a happy 2’10. December was a cold month weather-wise, but also in terms of life as well. From family life at home to struggling to find a new job. Now my unhappy year comes to a thankful end and will bow out on a very unhappy note: my return to Wendy’s.
[I wanna pause to be clear that when I say "reality from back home" ruined my "happiness" at Boyce, i'm not saying that helping my family (or even my family itself) was what dashed it. It was moreso the circumstances with my Dad under which I had to work.]
But in spite of all this, in spite of a spoiled year, I can’t deny that my relationship with God has grown in a way I didn’t expect. Through all this turmoil God has been my Constant. I can’t deny how faithful He has been to me. And with His faithfulness and love to support me, I can crawl into 2’11 and expect that no matter what happens, it’s all in God’s hands.
Maybe I’ll finally get a book published…maybe I’ll finally find my niche musically…maybe I’ll find true love..maybe I’ll finally start my life…there are a host of maybe’s, but only one Constant. And in Him is my only hope…
Happy New Year.
You may or may not know this, but the next Chronicles of Narnia movie is coming out in December (I think). There was a Christianity Today article on it a week or two ago that I read. It seems perty exciting. But that’s beside the point. The thrust of this post rests on the last movie, Prince Caspian.
All in all, I got the general impression that people didn’t like it. It strayed too far from the book. Was too violent. Didn’t develop Lewis’ themes from the book. Key dialogue was left out. And so on and so forth.
While these criticisms are well-founded, I still enjoyed the movie. Sure it didn’t follow the book, but the scenes added did add to the movie, I thought. I thought the castle attack was pretty dern good, though somewhat overdone. The violence is certainly too much for kids, but it’s honestly what roped me in. In fact, what sold me on the first movie, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was the climatic battle scene..especially the sword fight between Peter and the Queen lady. So the added fights in PC were welcomed in my book. Some might say the beheading part was too much…well,that was actually from the book, and i think the filmmakers did a nifty job keeping that subtle. Now there are some holes and whatnot layered throughout the script, but I think they can be overlooked. I can comply with the complaints that some of the key dialogue was botched or left-out because they were essential to the theology in the books.
But what about the themes in the book? The story focuses on faith. Lucy has the most childlike faith and is the first to see Aslan. Lewis draws this out wonderfully in the book as the children and their “DLF” safely navigate their way down the gorge (at night,mind you) relying on faith in Aslan. The further they go, the more clearly they see him. It’s a beautiful picture of faith and I was admittedly sad that it was cut out of the movie. But I think the filmmakers did redeem themselves slightly by the way they did explore faith in the film…let’s take a quick look, shall we?
First, there’s a lot of overall tension. Since Aslan didn’t show up lickity split, they all doubt if he’ll ever come. Due to lack of patience and faith, they hatch the castle attack. Note before the official “charge” Peter only yells “For Narnia!” Where’s Aslan? Well of course, the whole thing’s botched. Lives are lost. Everyone’s even more tense than before. Enter Caspian’s temptation from the black dwarf to summon and free the White Witch Queen lady from the first movie. This is where I think the filmmakers got it. The whole scene is beautiful and serves as the hinge of the plot. Note when the hag summons the witch, what does the ice cover? A picture of Aslan. So subtle,and yet so brilliant! Of course, this all fails and they finally see that only faith in Aslan can save the day. As they act in faith, the tides turn. Notice in the final charge Peter finally yells “For Aslan!”
I’m no C.S. Lewis scholar (nor do I want to be), but I think Prince Caspian the movie stands on its own right. Sure, they messed up some key parts but I think overall they did well. The theme of faith still comes through, subtle yes..but if you know where to look then it’s a very rich find. If you’re still reading this, good job, you’re at the end. If you’re wondering why I wrote this…i’m a nerd and i felt like it…good day.
