Talking about ‘IT’.

No- ‘IT’ is not sex. At least not in this case.

Yesterday I mentioned that I doubt. Today I’m pretty much vurping (vomit-burp: not a full vomit, but still not pleasant and definitely not fun like a burp).

Jason Boyett wrote a book O Me of Little Faith- and I’m probably going to read it.

Today he asked the question: How do doubters achieve a balance between honest questioning, personal transparency, and concern over the spiritual well-being of non-doubters?

Here’s my answer in the comments on that post:

wow.

Yeah- I need to read this book (or maybe I don’t).

This is where I’m at right now. Do I be transparent, and possibly impact my livelihood, or do I just skirt around the issue- hinting at it here and there- essentially putting a bandaid on?

My brother isn’t a believer- will my expression of doubt further entrench him? Or will it be the fresh honesty he wants to see?

Do I really care about causing others to stumble- or should I? Do I really believe THAT part of the Bible?

I have no problem believing in sunshine and happy days, it’s when the crap hits the fan that I well, you know, doubt.

To the question at hand- causing others to stumble. Is doubt sin? It’s not, right? So how can my lack of sin cause others to sin?

And this leads to the other stumbling blocks I may leave. I drink alcohol. I dance. I even *gasp* “cuss”. OK- I get why those are stumbling blocks:

Too much alcohol = drunkenness = sin.
Too much dancing = lust = sin.
Too much cussing = blasphemy = sin.
Too much doubt = lots of doubt = more questions = ?

Maybe too much doubt can lead to lying. BUT- if you’re being honest, ie- “I believe this and I struggle with this and I don’t think I can believe this yet, if ever”, you would wouldn’t be lying.

Score:
Honest Doubt – ok
Dishonest Doubt – Hell

???

Yesterday I posted on my blog about my doubts. Or, rather, admitted to having them. It helped some. This has helped some more.

For me open conversation helps more than anything else. It let’s me know that I’m normal- whatever that means.

This whole question of “will my doubts cause others to doubt more” hits close for me. I have a good friend that confessed their sin and expressed their doubts, and then was essentially placed outside community because of that honesty. I get it- they couldn’t lead any longer because of the sin, but to have the tough conversation and then not honestly care? REALLY?

So here I am. Will my admission of guilt in doubting cause you to doubt more? Or do you feel more normal now, too?