This is how I feel about speaking wisely ABOUT ABOUT DOUBT IN THE CHURCH 

DR. DOUGLAS GROOTHUIS!
BY DR. DOUGLAS GROOTHUIS
· NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Doubt is best worked through individually with trusted friends. If leaders confess doubts on major Christian doctrines, their congregations may lose confidence in their leadership, equate doubt with unbelief, or be thrown into an unnecessary crisis of faith themselves. 
Christian author Joshua Harris recently announced that he was no longer a Christian. It seems that the Bible’s views on sexual morality were a major stumbling block for him, although there were probably other concerns. Songwriter Marty Sampson similarly released statements saying he was questioning Christianity but had been reading apologetics to try to keep the faith.  Thirteen-year-old Steve Jobs was troubled by the suffering of children produced by the 1968 famine in Biafra, Africa. After he asked his pastor whether God knew about this ahead of time, he replied, “Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knew about this.” The pastor offered no apologetic—no reason to believe in God despite evil (1 Peter 3:15)—to this young, brilliant and inquiring soul. Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson writes, “Jobs announced that he didn’t want to have anything to do with worshiping such a God, and he never went back to church.“
These examples should challenge us to consider the place of doubt in the life of the Christian and what pastors can do to address their doubts. Unhappily, many in the church don’t know where to turn when doubts arise. This must change. Jude tells us “to have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 22). In this essay, I won’t so much respond to doubts concerning the existence and goodness of God, or of the need for faith in Jesus for salvation, as I will outline a strategy for addressing doubt with love and integrity.
Shepherding the Flock Through Doubt   
Leaders in the church are shepherds of the flock. A good shepherd knows the health and strength of the sheep and attends to them properly. He doesn’t ask a weak sheep to pretend to be strong, nor does he punish a sheep who is lame. Those suffering from illnesses or the death of a loved one are prone to confess their needs and receive help in the church through pastoral visits and support groups. But those suffering from doubts are often ashamed and keep them to themselves, fearing being judged or even ostracized by fellow Christians. These fears may be warranted since Christians sometimes shoot their own wounded. So, the first thing a church can do to help doubters is to create a safe place for questioning the Christian faith. How might this be done? 
Pastors and other teachers should address what the Bible teaches about faith and doubt.  Reading Os Guinness’s book God in the Dark is highly recommended. I offer a few truths to keep in mind. 
The Bible calls us to have faith in Christ’s atoning work for our salvation. We are redeemed by God’s grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8). Faith lays hold of the truth that God reveals to us in the Bible. Yet, faith is not the opposite of knowledge, nor does it require a blind leap in the dark. 
Paul calls us to “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The contrast he draws is not between faith and reason, but faith and sight. Many of our beliefs are justified without being based on visual evidence. We may believe a book of history on the basis of testimony, for example. I believe you have thoughts, but I do not see your thoughts. In fact, God is invisible in His essence, so He cannot be directly seen at all. Thus, when Paul tells us to walk by faith, he means a reasonable conviction that runs deeper than what everyday sensory evidence can provide. But, Paul never foreswears reasons for faith. After all, it was Paul who gave such convincing evidence that Christ rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). 
To doubt God or His promises is not virtuous, as James writes.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person is double-minded and unstable in all they do (James 1:5-7).
Yet if one is doubting, steps can be taken to remove or alleviate doubt. Before addressing doubt, a distinction should be made between unbelief and doubt. An unbeliever in Christianity doesn’t suffer from doubts. He simply doesn’t believe. But a doubting Christian is not an unbeliever. He does believe but is having difficulty maintaining this belief for some reason. One in this situation can take comfort from the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Jesus did not rebuke this man but granted his request that his son be delivered from a demon. Jesus encouraged the faith of the apostles when they confessed their need for more faith. He did not scold them.
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6).