Thomas the Doubter, Peter the Liar, and Judas the Betrayer (Excerpts from "Shaken Faith")

Thomas the doubter, Peter the liar, and Judas the betrayer—biblical figures who reflect personal moments when faith is shaken to the core. Defining moments that either turned them toward God or saw them fall away from God.

"The story of Peter reflects the possibility of getting up and moving beyond our crises and our failures, while the story of Judas reveals to us the danger of allowing ourselves to be swallowed up by our crisis and giving up on our faith. Lastly, the story Thomas provides a clear glimpse of "coming to believe" and giving up old paradigms that no longer "fit."[1]

The crisis itself does not cause us to abandon our faith; it is our decision in those moments of challenge to either cling to or let go of God.

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[1] Sanejo Leonard, Shaken Faith: What you Don't Know (and Need to Know) about Faith Crises and How They Affect Spiritual Growth, (Eugene, OR: WIPF and STOCK, 2015), 114.

Faith Must be Deep (Excerpts from "Shaken Faith")

“Figuring out concepts on our own is not always something we enjoy doing. The path with the least resistance is usually what we are looking for; the mindset is, “where is the shortcut to whatever it might be, and tell me exactly how to get there.”

Yet, if our simplification of the gospel message is our main way of communicating these ideas, our faith and the faith of those we lead will be shallow, thus only wading in simple ideas of a complex God. True faith grows and changes as we grow in our understanding of God, and this is faith and faith crises: a challenge to our understanding and preconceptions of a complicated and paradoxical God who is both knowable and unknowable at the same time.”[1]

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            [1] Sanejo Leonard, Shaken Faith: What You Don’t Know (and Need to Know) about Faith Crises and How They Affect Spiritual Formation (Eugene, OR: WIPF and STOCK, 2015), 106-107.

What we don't know can hurt us (Excerpts from "Shaken Faith")

"Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and what we do not know is better than attempting to know and have all the answers. However...it is in our humanity, our being that is made in the image of God, to ask, question, challenge, and to know. Though there are things we cannot know and will not know...our curiosity and endeavor to learn and question are what allow us to innovate, develop electricity, build and fly airplanes and create...."[1]

Where do questions about God, life, and its complexities fit into a 21^st century faith model?


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[1] Sanejo Leonard, Shaken Faith: What You Don’t Know (and Need to Know) about Faith Crises and How They Affect Spiritual Formation (Eugene, OR: WIPF and STOCK, 2015), 6.