To doubt like Thomas

This weeks theme is written by our guest writer, Bonnie Hebenton.

 In this week's gospel Jesus has a conversation with Thomas, who doubts that his leader is alive because he was not with the other disciples when they first saw the risen Christ. As a consequence of this conversation Thomas is henceforth known as Doubting Thomas. This tends to have a negative connotation and we use the term Doubting Thomas to critically describe someone who seems to be hesitant or stuck because of doubt

Doubt is not always bad. Sometimes doubt is absolutely essential. Doubt may be analogous to pain. Pain tells us that something nearby or within us is dangerous to our physical body. It is a call for attention and action. Similarly, doubt tells us that something in us … a concept, an idea, a framework of thinking … deserves further attention because it may be harmful, or false, or imbalance.

Christians are committed to lifelong spiritual growth. That means that five years from now, our set of beliefs will hopefully be different from today’s … our beliefs will be more fine-tuned, more tested, more balanced, more examined. What causes us to examine a belief and test it? It’s that something inside you isn’t at rest about a belief … something in you doubts that belief. By doubting it, and then examining it, you can either call it a keeper because it passed the test, discard it, or adjust it.*

*"Doubt: The Tides of Faith" Written for Christian Single Magazine by Brian McLaren