Struggling with Doubt

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
— Matthew 11:2


My daily reading this morning was on the passage where John the baptist heard reports of the works of Jesus and sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the Messiah or whether they should keep looking/waiting.

Greg Laurie points put that even great men of the faith have moments of great doubt. I believe that and think it's very important to recognize this. Often we have an unrealistic, unreasonable and down-right wrong view of what the Christian life is like or should be like.

But what I took away from this reading is the way in which John dealt with the situation.

First, he assessed the information he received. He tested it against his understanding of what the Messiah was to be. The criteria presumably was based on scripture (or his understanding of it).

Next, he sought confirmation. He got his followers to seek out Jesus and to ask if he indeed was the Messiah. He no doubt would've gone to Jesus personally if he could, but this was the next best thing.

This step is significant to me because it's common for Christians to assess a situation or person by their understanding of it and then proceed to a conclusion or judgement without seeking clarification or explanation. Just imagine if John did that!

Jesus responded with grace and told the disciples to report what was going on - one might have expected Jesus to be insulted by the questioning (I know I would've).

Although not recorded, I believe that the messengers did give John the report of the encounter and that John's confidence was restored - call me a sap for a happy ending.




- Posted using my iPhone