A recent message at church addressed questioning Christianity, framed around three kinds of people: the skeptic, the hurt, and the undecided. It's worth pausing on a fourth group too — those who aren't skeptics, haven't experienced church hurt, and aren't undecided, whose salvation is secure, but who still read certain passages and think, honestly, I don't fully get this yet.
Questions Aren't the Enemy
Questions are good. Scripture itself tells us to test and approve what we're taught — that's not a loophole, it's an instruction. Which brings us to John 20, and the man history remembers as "doubting Thomas."
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." — John 20:25
Thomas walked with Christ. He witnessed the miracles firsthand — may have even been standing there as Jesus ascended. And still, when the other disciples told him they'd seen the risen Lord, his response was doubt. Not disbelief from someone outside the faith — doubt from someone who had already seen everything.
Christ's Response Wasn't Shame
A week later, Jesus appears again, Thomas present this time.
"Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.'" — John 20:27
Christ didn't cast Thomas out. He didn't revoke his place among the disciples for questioning His authority. He gave Thomas exactly what he needed to move from doubt to belief. He knew where Thomas's heart actually was, and He answered the question rather than punishing it.
That's genuinely comforting, because there are still passages that don't fully click on first read — moments of praying, "Holy Spirit, give me understanding, because I want to be aligned here and I'm not quite there yet." God gave each of us a mind, and He knows some things take longer to grab hold of. He's not shaming anyone for that gap.
No One Starts Knowing Everything
Ask anyone who's been married for twenty years whether they knew everything about marriage on their wedding day. The honest answer is always no. And yet the decision to commit came first, with the learning stretched out over the years that followed. The same applies to a new job, or really any long process — nobody becomes an expert and then begins; they begin, and expertise comes from having walked through the process.
The same is true of faith. Nobody arrives already knowing everything about a life following Christ, because it's a lifelong process, not a finish line reached before the starting line. The only way from point A to point Z is to actually start the journey — questions, doubts, and all.
It's Not a Boring Life
One thing that keeps people stuck in an undecided, lukewarm place is the belief that faith means giving up everything fun — that it has to mean a boring life. It doesn't. God created humor. Life as a believer still includes real joy, real laughter, real fun — alongside the honest promise that times will still get hard. It's not all one or the other.
Whether it's a fellow believer wrestling honestly with a passage they don't yet understand, or someone outside the faith carrying real doubts, the same truth applies: questioning is built into how God made us. He's not looking for people with zero doubts — He's looking for an honest, intimate relationship, doubts, questions, and all. Bring it to Him. Bring it to a more mature believer who can walk through it alongside you. That's not a failure of faith — it's often exactly how faith grows.
You can catch this devotional and every weekday message live on carltondewaynedunko.com, Monday through Thursday at 9:15 AM Eastern. Carlton also co-hosts the original 9:15 Devotional, where you'll find the full video archive and more ways to connect.