In the Christian religion, doubt has almost always been held up as the opposite of faith. As such, many Christians are horrified and ashamed when they struggle with doubt. They fear that they are losing their faith when they have doubts. According to Pastor Steven Furtick from the Elevation Church in North Carolina, however, doubt is not something that should shame Christians. In fact, it should be expected and almost required. “If you don’t doubt [the Bible,]” Furtick said, “you’re not reading it or you’re reading it with no intent to live it.”

Furtick explained that “faith is not the absence of doubt; it is the means to overcome it.” Asking questions, wrestling with challenges and struggling in order to reach understanding is natural and healthy. “My doubt is the evidence of my growth,” Furtick said. “The closer I get, the more questions I have.”

Few Christians are willing to address the issue of doubt, and even fewer are willing to admit to struggling with doubt themselves. Furtick, however, was open about occasionally struggling with doubt himself. “I meet these people and…they make assumptions about me, because there’s a Rev. in front of my name. They make assumptions about me that I don’t have real doubts,” he said. “One gentleman that I was doing business with, he put it this way. He [said,] ‘I envy you because I would love to have faith. I always wanted to believe in God. But I’m just always, I’m the kind of person that doubts a lot. And I envy you that you don’t have those doubts.’…[but] I have my doubts,” Furtick elaborated. “I don’t believe [the Bible] because I don’t doubt it…I struggle to believe it. That I’m forgiven, that He forgives me not only before I accepted Him but for what I still do…I have my doubts. I have my faith, but I have my doubts.”

Furtick went on to explain that many Christians seem to think that they are alone in dealing with doubt. “We doubt this stuff,” he said. “But we can’t say we doubt this stuff because doubt is bad.” To those who claim to have no doubts at all, Furtick said, “There’s not one of you in the room…[who] can honestly say [the Sinner’s Prayer] without a doubt. And if you can,” he joked, “hang on. You haven’t had teenagers yet.”

Furtick’s sermon has been met by both cheers and fierce criticism. Many Christians are thrilled at hearing that they are not alone or damned because they sometimes struggle with doubts. Others were appalled at what they saw as encouraging disobedience. Regardless of which side of the debate someone falls on, there is no doubt that this conversation is overdue. Christianity is struggling in the West. As such, it is time that people begin to truly discuss what it means to be Christian in this modern world and address the spiritual challenges Christians face today.