My Top Five takeaways from Room for Doubt Kirkland Event

If only we could sit and chat over a cup of coffee…but here’s the closest I can come…

Sunday night Russ and I attended the Room for Doubt event at Kirkland. Questions were fielded by Mark Mittleberg, author of The Reason Why Faith Makes Sense and Confident Faith, and Dr. Richard Knopp, philosophy professor and author from Lincoln Christian University.

Okay. Wake up….I just had to give credit where credit is due….copyrights and all that, you know…

So here are the key points that impacted me from the evening:

• There is a difference between healthy skepticism and cynicism. Much of what we encounter in the arena of doubt is fueled by cynicism. I am no stranger to cynicism. Cynicism, in my experience, is a defense mechanism designed to protect ME from any kind of future hurt based on past experience. Mark Mittleberg pointed out that we are wired to be skeptical…this is how we learn and build faith.

• Healthy skepticism comes from a desire to know and to love Truth. Sadly, even Scripture points to the fact that not all will love Truth. John 3:19 tells us that Light or Truth came into the world through Jesus Christ, but not all love this because they loved the darkness more. It is possible to choose to ignore truth so that we can continue in our own evil desires. Cynicism protects that which does not love truth.

• Blaise Pascal was a Christian. How did I miss that in school? Probably because I stopped listening to information about him when I found out he was a mathematician and I just zoned out….but here is a great quote from him that Mark shared: “Truth is so obscured in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth,we cannot know it.” I realize that fits closely with the previous point, but I included this because the statement he makes is RELEVANT to our culture….and he lived in the 1600’s ….in France…and if writings from the 1600’s are relevant…how much more than is the Word of God relevant in our world????

• At one point, a reference was made by Dr. Knopp about how we study Scripture. Part of our interpretation must include the original audience and what the passages would have meant to them. For me, this is a reminder that the study of Scripture has many levels. If, as a Christian, I am going to live my life based on the belief that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, and from it we get….doctrine, teaching, correction, instruction….as 2 Timothy 3:16 states….then it is extremely important that I study it rightly and diligently. Mark pointed out that we also have a wealth of books written by people who also had doubts and questions and if we would take advantage of these resources, we might find that someone has already discovered the answer we have been looking for!

• The last point was this…IF I believe that there is only One way …. Jesus Christ…and IF I believe that He came to seek and save the lost…and IF I believe that without Him..without His salvation…a person will go to Hell…eternally separated from God…then I must…I MUST risk offending people and share the Gospel… the Good News…I do believe. I believe with all that is in me that Jesus is the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. I will risk offending. I will not love my life so much that I will put up protective walls of cynicism and fear of rejection. I will love because He first loved me. I will pray for greater understanding to know Him more and I will pray for boldness to proclaim the Gospel.