DOUBT(1):HONEST QUESTIONS Bottom Line: Doubt Paves the Way to Belief

WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

DOUBT(1):HONEST QUESTIONS Bottom Line: Doubt paves the way to belief. introduction: You know those nagging questions that seem to linger in the back of your mind? The ones you hesitate to ever speak out loud, admit you have, or let anyone else know you think? Questions like: “Does God hear me when I pray?” “Does He have a plan for my life?” “Does God really have everything under control?” Questions and doubts can be unsettling if they are left unsaid. We begin to think we are alone in our doubts, and often our doubts only grow until they paralyze our faith. But when we learn to admit our doubts openly, we learn that we are not the only ones—that everyone deals with it. And when we learn to live with doubt in a healthy way, doubt can be a tool that strengthens our faith. wonder. discovery. passion. www.xp3students.org Chief EXECUTIVE Officer Reggie Joiner XP3 Team Jared Herd Tim Walker Sarah Bragg Kristen Ivy Sarah Anderson Contributors Mike Hancock Laura Whelan Brian Withman CREATIVE DIRECTOR Scott Bragg Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt Chief Operating Officer Karen Odom USER AGREEMENT The reThink Group, Inc. gladly grants permission to churches, schools and other licensees to tailor XP3TM materials Partner Support to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences. However, if you wish to edit the content Kristie McCollister substantively, including teaching scripts, small group dialog and any other content in which biblical principles and Debbie Joiner concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we’ve expressed in our Statement of Faith (see page 2).

These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work—including podcasts or video of this content—is a direct violation of U.S. copyright laws. ©2008 The reThink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. XP3 and the XP3 logo are trademarks of The reThink Group, Inc.

www.xp3students.org ©2008 The reThink Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

Statement of Faith ABOUT GOD God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He’s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing or idea compares to God. ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable and authoritative. ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God’s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God’s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us. ABOUT SALVATION That’s why Jesus, God’s Son, came and lived on this earth, died and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior, the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God’s family and will live with Him forever in heaven.

Scripture marked “NIV” is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Creating the Experience We believe that the set, stage, music and everything in your room communicates a message—without you saying a word. That’s why we put together a list of production ideas to help you set the stage for the session and the series. From the music you play when students come into the room to the worship set your band plays, we want to make sure that your room conveys “Doubt” in a multi-sensory way. There is a downloadable checklist available in your series downloads that will give you all the elements for this session (and the entire series). Background Playlist for DOUBT Series: “Awakening” by Switchfoot (from Oh! Gravity) “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis (from Spirit) “Counting Blue Cars” by Dishwalla (from Pet Your Friends) “Beat It (featuring John Mayer)” by Fall Out Boy (from Beat It, featuring John Mayer-Single) “Drama Queen” by Family Force Five (from Business Up Front/Party in the Back) “Big Enough” by Chris Rice (from Past the Edges) “Mayfield” by Augustana (from All the Stars and Boulevards) “Ignition” by tobyMac (from Portable Sounds) “All-American Girl” by Carrie Underwood (from Carnival Ride) “I’m Not Who I Was” by Brandon Heath (from Don’t Get Comfortable) “Honest Questions” by Daniel Bedingfield (from Gotta Get Thru This) “What If” by Coldplay (from X&Y) Worship playlist for DOUBT session 1: “I’m Not Alright” by Sanctus Real (from The Face of Love) “Can’t Get Away” by Rush Of Fools (from Rush of Fools) “I Still Believe” by Jeremy Camp (from Stay) “Till I See You” by Hillsong London (from Jesus Is: Live Worship from London) The set One thing that comes to mind when we talk about doubt is questions, and what better way to showcase questions than a game show? For this series, turn your stage or room into a game show. You can be as elaborate or simple as you want. You could hang a bunch of lights and create some poster boards with glitter that displays your game show theme. Or you can go all out and build your own games like “Cliffhanger” from The Price Is Right. Google search “game shows” to find different ideas or watch a marathon of game shows one day. You could even dress up as a cheesy game show host to welcome everybody and give the announcements—or you could get a student or a volunteer to do it.

SERIES ART Art for PowerPoint backgrounds and for series promotional ads is available as a free download with every series. Visit the XP3 web site, log on to your account and download the images to use in your presentation, newsletters and web site.

VIDEO A video bumper is available for the Doubt series as a video download from the reThink store. You can purchase the video by logging into your XP3 account and clicking on the “purchase videos” link. The bumper video was created to be used as an intro for both sessions of the Doubt series.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR SMALL GROUP LEADERS: With this series, we recommend that you spend some time talking with your leaders about the appropriateness of what they should share from their own personal experiences. As leaders, they will naturally want to share their doubts to make students feel comfortable. Though this is the right idea, you probably don’t want them unloading all their doubts to their group in great detail. Work with them to find the right balance and give them some guidelines based on your own experience.

Middle School Adaptation The following activities and illustrations are designed to help middle schoolers connect with the subject matter in ways that engage them physically, mentally, socially and sometimes emotionally.

GAME: family feud (Play this game as an icebreaker to Session 1.) Family Feud is a popular television show that has been around since the mid 70s. Take advantage of the set for the Doubt series by playing a game of Family Feud yourself. If you don’t remember all the rules of the game, a quick search on the internet will help you out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Feud).

The week before your program, go around and ask your students a few questions so you can use their responses for the surveys in your game. Collect your answers and tabulate the results. Create a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation. During the session, play a few quick rounds. Pick a total of 10 students for two teams of five. You could even have different small groups play against each other. You’ll want to get a good host (dressing the part is always funny) and the theme song (http://timstvshowcase.com/ famfeud.html) would be a nice touch.

Here are a few sample survey questions you could ask: • Name a popular flavor of ice cream. • Name a popular state to visit. • Name a story from the Bible people have a hard time believing is true. (This one will lead nicely into the lesson.) • Name a popular extracurricular activity. • Name a popular Olympic sport.

ILLUSTRATION: mother teresa (Use this illustration during teaching point B in the Application section of the teaching script.) Most middle school students probably don’t know a lot about Mother Teresa. To help out the illustration in the teaching script, provide a little more background information about her. Some possible sites for research are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html

Find some pictures of Mother Teresa that you could show to the students and ask them what they know about her. Then continue with the background information we have provided in the teaching script.

Teaching Script The teaching script is divided into five sections.

Introduction: This introduction is intended to connect you, the communicator, to the audience usually through a personal story or observation. We’ve included our stories, but you may want to substitute your own story in this section.

Tension: The tension moves the message from the “me” mentality of the introduction to a “we” mentality. For example, a transition statement might be, “At some point in our lives, we have all been jealous of someone over something.”

Truth: Once the tension builds, the next logical step is to uncover the truth of what the Bible says about the topic.

Application: At this point, the message moves to a “you” mentality in order to teach the application. The “you” is the student. Take God’s truth and unpack how it relates to each student so that he or she can apply it to everyday life.

Landing: Here it is important to land the message on what each student needs to know and do with what they’ve heard. Just as the message began with a personal story or observation, the message also ends with a “me” mentality. For example, one possible landing statement might be, “I have a greater sense of purpose knowing that God created me in His image.” Leave the students with a clear sense of what all of you should do with what you’ve heard.

DOUBT(1):HONEST QUESTIONS Bottom Line: Doubt paves the way to belief. TEACHING OUTLINE INTRO: When it comes to doubt the only thing we know for certain is that everyone has it.

TENSION: Doubt isn’t always a bad thing.

When it comes to God and faith, doubt usually creeps in because we have attached our faith to one of three things: We attach to a particular understanding of God. We attach our faith to someone else’s faith. It is an intellectual thing.

Doubt can be helpful or it can be destructive.

TRUTH: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God” (John 3:2 NIV).

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3 NIV).

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4 NIV).

“You mean he has deceived you also? . . . Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No!” (John 7:47-48 NIV).

“Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” (John 7:51 NIV).

APPLICATION: Learn to embrace the doubt and allow it to lead us to belief.

LANDING: Where will you allow doubt to direct you? Our doubt is just a part of the process in the path towards deeper belief.

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT Bottom Line: doubt paves the way to belief.

Introduction

A. I can remember the day when I questioned the existence of the tooth fairy. My parents told me to clean my room, which was a fairly common request in my house. Even as a small child, I was a total slob.

While picking up the junk on the floor of my room, I remember coming across a note. It was from the tooth fairy, written in squiggly letters with a shaky hand because the pen was bigger than she was—or so my parents said. Apparently, they really thought that one through when deciding to write the note on her behalf.

This, in and of itself, didn’t raise any red flags for me because in my mind, I imagined that the tooth fairy looked a lot like Tinkerbell, the fairy from Peter Pan. So of course her handwriting would be a little messy as she attempted to maneuver a massive ink pen.

B. I had saved the note from the last time I had lost a tooth. Suddenly, as I looked at it and started considering the idea of a fairy who collected children’s teeth, a little bit of doubt crept in.

And now that I think of it, the whole concept is, well, creepy. A fairy who sneaks into your room while you’re asleep and takes teeth. Why did I even buy into this one in the first place? Oh, yeah—the cash.

C. With that little bit of doubt came a lot of questions. First, I questioned whether she had actually written the note; it seemed unlikely given her size. Then I questioned the tooth fairy herself. How does she manage all of those teeth when she is just a tiny little thing herself? And then it all started to unravel. If she wasn’t real, what did that mean about a giant bunny who delivered eggs every spring, or a man in a red suit who left me lots of presents?

D. I took the letter from my room and confronted my parents in the kitchen. You can imagine how the rest unfolded. In this case, a little bit of doubt went a long way.

E. Doubt begins early, maybe with small stuff like the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny, but it never really goes away. Sure, it was just the tooth fairy when I was kid, but my doubts didn’t go away as I grew up and got older. If anything, my doubts became more serious. I remember the first time I had my heart broken, I doubted if someone would ever really love me. I remember getting back my PSAT scores and having doubts about my future—would I really be able to get into a good college? And I remember when a close friend of mine died, I doubted God. I wondered whether God was really there. And I wondered whether God was really good.

F. You have your own stories. Maybe you doubted a relationship you were in. Maybe you dealt with doubt when your parents decided to separate, or you doubted you could pass a test in chemistry, physics or calculus. Maybe you are dealing with doubt when it comes to God. When it comes to doubt, everyone has it.

tension

A. Doubt kind of gets a bad wrap. Often we talk about people who are doubters like they are ignorant, lesser people. We like to equate certainty with strong leaders. And those who doubt are somehow left behind. But doubt isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, there is a reason that we all do it. What if I had never doubted the existence of the tooth fairy? I might be pretty interesting to talk to, but it would be difficult to take me seriously. You see, it was actually important and necessary for me to start asking some questions. In this case, my doubt helped me let go of some ideas that weren’t actually true, so that I could begin to live my life in light of new, more accurate information.

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

TENSION (CONT’D)

B. Doubt in our faith is no different than the other doubts we experience every day. It’s part of how God has wired us to process truth. Doubt is just a part of our lives, and it’s there for a reason. In the same way doubting some of the childhood stories our parents taught us helps us redefine a more personal worldview, doubts related to our faith can help us begin to have a stronger and more personal belief.

C. When it comes to God and faith, doubt usually creeps in because we have attached our faith to one of three things. Maybe we have attached our faith to a particular personal understanding of God. We have one understanding of what God is like and how God should and will act. Then when something happens that conflicts with our understanding of God’s character, we have doubt.

Maybe we have attached our faith to someone else’s faith. We might not say it that way, but somehow we have an understanding about God that is solidified by a person who we feel we can rely on. Maybe it’s a parent or a small group leader or even a world-figure. Then when that person makes an unwise decision or somehow their faith begins to fall apart, ours goes with it.

Maybe it’s an intellectual thing. Maybe your faith has been attached to a particular interpretation of the Bible and then you hear something in school or you read something online and you start to wonder whether you can really trust that interpretation of events. Whatever the cause, doubt creeps in.

D. But if we are honest about our doubt and we learn how to deal with the doubt that we have, then we will be able to move past a kind of Christianity that is merely words. Our belief will develop into something deeper. Doubt can help us begin to personalize our faith and internalize things that will genuinely shape the way we make decisions and the way we interact with people around us.

E. In other words, doubt can be helpful or it can be destructive—depending on how we handle it. But if we can handle our doubt well, it can pave the way to a stronger belief in Jesus Christ.

TRUTH

A. The Bible tells the story of a man who mastered learning to live in faith while dealing with doubt. His name is Nicodemus, and he is one of the few people, apart from the disciples, who the Gospels record interacting with Jesus throughout the course of Jesus’ ministry.

B. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which meant that he was a member of the ruling Jewish council. So he was kind of a big deal in the Jewish community. If you think about the synagogues as a kind of private school for that time, the Pharisees would be like the honor students—the ones with the high SAT scores and off-the-charts GPAs.

But if you’ve heard of the Pharisees before, it’s probably been because you heard about Jesus calling them out on stuff—which He did—a lot. You see, as book-smart as the Pharisees were, as much as they had memorized and practiced the letter of the Law, the Pharisees often missed the point. Jesus saw their potential for influence and wanted to them to really get it. But they didn’t. So many of them missed it—by a long shot.

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

TRUTH (Cont’D)

C. But Nicodemus was a little different than the others. While most Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat and a nuisance, Nicodemus saw Jesus as a valid Jewish teacher. Nicodemus wasn’t hostile; he was curious. He saw something in Jesus that his colleagues were missing, and he wanted to get to know more about Jesus and hear what Jesus had to say. Because of the position he was in, Nicodemus knew that even being seen with Jesus was a potential danger. So Nicodemus decided to go to Jesus in the middle of the night, secretly. This is where our story picks up in John 3.

D. When Nicodemus comes to meet Jesus, he starts the conversation by letting Jesus know that he understands who Jesus is: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God” (John 3:2 NIV). That’s pretty normal, right? I mean, you might meet someone for the first time by letting them know “Hey, I’ve heard a lot about you from Evan. He says you’re the fastest runner he’s ever seen.” Something like that. Normal conversation.

But then Jesus responds to Nicodemus and the whole night takes a weird turn. Instead of answering Nicodemus with a regular greeting, “Hey Nick. I’ve heard about you in the town. You’re a really smart Pharisee, right?” No. Jesus responds in a way that appears to have nothing to do with Nicodemus’ greeting: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3 NIV).

What? I’m sorry, come again? How is that a normal thing to say at all? All of a sudden, I have to think that Nicodemus was a little confused. He had just shown Jesus a level of respect that most Pharisees weren’t willing to give Jesus by calling Him “teacher,” but then Jesus makes that awkward statement.

E. Nicodemus must have decided that Jesus was trying to teach him something because he doesn’t give up and go home right then. Even though Jesus isn’t making any sense, Nicodemus stays with it. He asks questions. He responds: “How can a man be born when he is old? . . . Surely he cannot enter his mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4 NIV). Translation: Born again? Jesus, that sounds like tooth fairy and Santa Claus stuff. Who can be born again? No wonder Nicodemus was confused. From there Jesus starts to talk about being born of the Spirit, not exactly a familiar or clear concept to anyone now, let alone then. It’s not difficult to imagine Nicodemus standing alone with Jesus in the middle of the night utterly confused.

I doubt that this was what Nicodemus had expected when he arranged to meet up with this person he called “Rabbi.” As one of the intellectual elite, it may have been one of the first times Nicodemus listened to a teacher in bewilderment, not even able to understand what the teacher was saying. I think it’s possible Nicodemus started to feel like we do sometimes—our circumstances don’t turn out the way we imagined, what we thought we knew we might not know at all, the Jesus we thought we believed in is different than we expected. Enter doubt. Nicodemus thought Jesus was a teacher, but then Jesus started in on this born again stuff, and Nicodemus probably started to wonder whether the other Pharisees might not have a better understanding of Jesus after all. Nicodemus spent the rest of his time with Jesus that night asking questions: “What does that mean? How can this be?” Nicodemus approached Jesus as a man of faith, but doubt started to shake his foundation. He became very unsure. Nicodemus showed up thinking he knew something, and left unsure of what he knew at all.

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

TRUTH (CONT’D)

F. But let’s jump ahead in the story because this isn’t the last time we see Nicodemus. The next time Nicodemus makes an appearance, he is with some other Pharisees and it’s during the day. Jesus is surrounded by a crowd of Pharisees who are not happy with all the attention Jesus is getting from the people. Then one of the temple guards walks in raving about Jesus’ teaching and talking like Jesus is the Messiah. When the Pharisees hear the guard, one of them sneers. “You mean he has deceived you also? . . . Has any of the rulers or of Pharisees believed in him? No!” (John 7:47-48 NIV).

And Nicodemus is in a tough spot. On one hand there is the man who talks crazy talk about grown men being born again. And on the other, all of his friends and coworkers are mocking Jesus and laughing at the people who are following Him. Nicodemus certainly hadn’t had all of his questions answered that night he met Jesus. He probably was still pretty uncertain about who he thought Jesus was. But even though it was unpopular, and even though he still had questions, Nicodemus spoke up on Jesus’ behalf:

“Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” (John 7:51 NIV). It is, in its own way, a defense of Jesus. All of the other Pharisees were looking for a way to arrest Jesus, or at least do something to make Him quit talking and disrupting the peace. But Nicodemus, though he hadn’t quite figured out this Jesus guy himself, calmed the unrest among the other men.

For some reason, it did not matter to Nicodemus that his first encounter with the Son of God left him with doubt, that there were questions he had that he still had no answers to. It mattered what he did with that doubt. And Nicodemus decided to stick around, to work through it, to determine what it was that he believed and then go from there. It came back to the first thing he said to Jesus when coming to Him in the dark: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who comes from God” (John 3:2 NIV). That much he knew. That much he believed, regardless of the questions that followed.

G. The last time we hear about Nicodemus is in John 19, following the crucifixion of Christ. And maybe we see more of the culmination of Nicodemus’ faith in this one account than any other. Jesus had just been crucified. His disciples scattered, the women were in mourning and only two men remained to deal with the aftermath, Joseph of Arimathea—and Nicodemus. Nicodemus, the Pharisee. Nicodemus, who was otherwise a pretty important guy, took time during one of the most important Jewish holidays to come to the cross. And taking Jesus’ body from the place where He had died, he covered Jesus in myrrh and aloe, and strips of linen. This high and important Jewish leader took on the despised job of an undertaker. He prepared Jesus for burial. No one else stuck around. No one else took care of the necessary tasks, of burying their Teacher and their Lord.

H. I may be doing a little bit of interpretation here, but I think Nicodemus still had unanswered questions. He probably hadn’t solved the riddle that Jesus gave to him the first time they talked. Yet somehow, Nicodemus managed to believe and to live in spite of his doubts. Somehow he moved from a frightened questioner to a bold believer— even with doubts. Where he once approached Jesus under the cover of darkness, he later approached the Roman governor to ask for the body of Christ, so he could properly care for it before burial. Something happened to Nicodemus. How did his doubt get him to John 19? How did his uncertainty lead him to the cross of Jesus?

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

TRUTH (CONT’D)

I. I am not sure what questions Nicodemus had answered. There aren’t any Bible stories that reference him saying confidently and assuredly, “I get it! I understand! I have to be spiritually reborn! Everything makes sense, so now I will follow Jesus.” As far as we know, he got no such thing. It could be that he spent the rest of his life trying to figure out his cryptic first conversation with Jesus about being spiritually reborn. If I had to guess, he chose to allow his doubt to lead him in belief. Nicodemus was always a believer in something, but by John 19, we see who he believed in, even as he wrestled with his doubts.

APPLICATION

A. So the issue for us, much like Nicodemus, is figuring out what to do with the doubt we have. We know that it’s going to happen. We are going to be faced with situations that we don’t understand and things that don’t line up with what we thought we believed. How will we respond in those moments when God does something that we think is out of character? How will we respond when a person whose faith we admire lets us down? Or when something in the Bible doesn’t make sense? Where will our doubt take us?

B. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Mother Teresa, but she is pretty much considered a modern-day saint. She became a missionary at 18 and lived the remainder of her 87 years ministering in the slums of Calcutta, India—one of the poorest, dirtiest and most disease-filled areas of the world. She cared for the people who filled the streets, and she did it all in the name of Jesus. In the course of her lifetime she earned the Nobel Peace Prize for her charitable work and was responsible for the founding of the Missionaries of Charity, which was operating in 123 countries with 610 missions by the time she passed away. She died in 1997, but in 2007, 10 years after her death, TIME magazine released an article with Teresa’s letters written to close friends, letters that shared her fears, her uncertainties and her doubts. She asked questions like, “Is heaven real?” “Is Jesus real?” “Does God hear me when I pray to Him?”

This article supports the idea that Mother Teresa wrestled with her doubt for nearly 40 years. For a lot of you, that is more than twice your age! But the incredible thing about this story isn’t that Mother Teresa had doubts. She’s human after all, and every one of us has doubts. The incredible thing about this story is that the whole time she was wrestling with these huge questions, she didn’t quit doing what she was doing because doubt crept in. She worked through it. She may not have had all of the answers, but she didn’t allow the questions to stop her journey. She learned to live in the tension between belief and doubt, just like Nicodemus did. Because ultimately, God was big enough to handle their uncertainty and questions.

C. For me, there have been times when I have doubted God—His existence, His presence, even His goodness. But the issue for me has always been if I am going to let my doubt direct me back towards belief, or let my doubt deaden my belief. Both doubt and belief will exist, but will we allow the doubt to pave the way to belief, or will it stop our belief dead in its tracks?

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

application (CONT’D)

D. So what is at the core of where your belief lies? Is your belief in something that holds up under the doubt, or is it in something or someone that doesn’t allow the two to coexist? Are you counting on the faith of a parent or a friend? Belief there probably won’t hold up for very long.

Are things that have happened to you in the past or things you are going through now messing with your faith? If so, doubt can kill belief pretty easily.

Or maybe you’re not sure where your belief is at all. Maybe all you are certain of is that you are uncertain. Maybe you have come across something in the Bible that has you stumped, that you can’t figure out, and you don’t know where to go from there. Regardless of where your faith lies or doesn’t lie, or how much doubt accompanies it, we have to figure out if our belief can withstand the heat of doubt. Is whatever we are banking on capable of making it through our questions, our uncertainties and our interrogations, proving itself a viable and worthy belief in the end?

E. No matter where your faith lies, where your faith comes from or where your faith is moving to, there will always be doubt. There is a lot in life I still don’t understand. There are a lot of big questions that haven’t been answered in my life. And there are some questions that I don’t anticipate ever getting an answer. The doubt remains. And if I had to guess, bigger questions and bigger doubts are probably going to be a part of my future—yours too. It is unavoidable.

(Note to communicator: This is a great section to share some of your own personal “big” questions. Maybe you wonder “why” someone in your family is ill. Or why something didn’t happen in your life that you had really hoped would.)

But what do you do with it when it comes? When you find yourself questioning the things you are reading in the pages of Scripture? When you find yourself confused by the unfolding of difficult circumstances surrounding you? When, in the midst of the uncertainty, difficulty and disorder, you find yourself questioning the very basics of what you believe?

F. This where we have to learn to embrace the doubt and allow it to lead us to belief. When your parents split and you doubt God cares, where will you let your doubt take you? When your friends leave you out, turn their backs on you and you doubt God hears your hurt, where will you let your doubt take you? When you sit in your science class and hear your teacher rail on your faith, and you start to doubt whether belief in God is relevant at all, where will you let your doubt take you? LANDING

A. Nicodemus, at any point in his story, could have chosen to walk away. We can too. We certainly wouldn’t be the only ones doing it. When dealing with the inevitable doubt, we always have a choice in where we allow it to direct us. Are we going to walk away, or are we going to stay in the streets of Calcutta, taking care of the people forgotten by the rest of society? Mother Teresa stuck around, and so did Nicodemus. That is where they are different from a lot of people. Yes, they doubted, just like you, but doubt did not dictate their lives and their actions. Belief did that. Like them, we need to learn how our faith and our doubts can reside together in your relationship with Jesus Christ, and mine.

DOUBT(1): HONEST QUESTIONS TEACHING SCRIPT

LANDING (CONT’D)

B. You are wired for faith. You are wired for doubt. We all are. If you are trying to figure out how to avoid doubt all together, you are in a losing battle. It isn’t going anywhere. Our doubt can be part of the process in the path towards deeper belief. Life is learning to make as much as possible of the doubt and the faith—knowing that where we choose to put our faith, doubt will appear to some degree.

C. Doubt is not bad, not even when it comes to Christianity. It is not the enemy at all. In fact, doubt can actually deepen our faith. It can test it and try it and ground it in ways that blind acceptance never can. We would be misled if we thought God fears and flees from our doubt. And we would be missing out if we let doubt have the final word when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.

TRANSITION INTO SMALL GROUPS