Does Doubt Count You Out?

​When was the last time you shared your faith with someone? Remember when you first got saved and you had to tell everyone? If your zeal has waned, there may be a hidden reason why.
 
I spoke recently at The Blue Cord Impact Conference in Dallas, hosted by iHope Ministries. With a goal to embolden and equip women to share their faith across cultures, I jokingly told the attendees that I had the “privilege” of sharing the stark reality that doubt counts you out of the plan of God. Especially when it comes to sharing your faith with others, doubt will hold you back...

​Often it’s difficult to pinpoint where doubt entered into the equation of you and me sharing the good news of what God has done in our lives, of voicing the help and comfort and wisdom of God’s word to a hurting world.
 
What happened along the way that caused you to pull back? What is the source of your doubt? 
 
Hollywood and secular media streams have been busily working to deconstruct our faith, while often, we have unwittingly allowed it. Whether by naivete, dulled discernment, or simple laziness, many of us have been like the proverbial frog in a pan of water. Hollywood has been cranking the heat and we’ve been oblivious.
 
We can’t ignore the “leaked” news of Disney’s agenda and their commitment to “regularly add queerness to children’s programming” as stated by executive producer Latoya Raveneau.[1] In other news, Warner Bros. removed gay dialogue from a movie for Chinese audiences but left it in to assault the minds and hearts of Americans.[2]
 
Both are vivid examples of the disturbing agendas pushed from Hollywood and other media sources. It’s difficult if not impossible to avoid being influenced. Billboards, ads, commercials, television shows, even textbooks are saturated with dark themes contrary to the Christian faith. 
 
If you didn’t realize that Christianity has become a counter-culture, the shocking statistic that only 6% of U.S. adults hold a biblical worldview shows the sad state of our once Christian nation.[3] It gets worse when we realize that 57% of American adults believe that morality is a matter of “personal experience.”[4]
 
It’s a very grim picture. And yet...
 
Barna Research reveals that a majority of U.S. adults (54%) believe that America would be worse off without the Bible.[5]
 
And, 67% of Americans say they would respond favorably if asked by a family member to attend church while 63%would respond favorably if a friend invites them.[6]
 
Despite the grim picture and disturbing trends in America, these statistics reveal that there is an openness to biblical solutions. There is an openness to family or friends caring enough to invite someone to church with them. If Hollywood’s agenda has affected your faith and sown doubt into your life, let these statistical truths sink into your soul. God is not dead – and contrary to what you see on the news or in the movie theatre, he is not completely rejected by American society.
 
In Habakkuk 2:14, the Bible tells us that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” This truth is a given. It will happen! God’s glory will cover the earth.
 
What we don’t know is your participation in this glorious plan. 
 
Has doubt counted you out?
 
Every drop of rain counts. Every coffee date you plan with a co-worker, every play date in the park with other moms and their kids, the extra minutes you take to talk to your “other faith” neighbor – it all works towards God’s end goal of covering the earth with his glory as the waters cover the sea.
 
Jesus is still the answer. People’s hearts are still open. God will work through you.
 
Strengthen your faith in God. Start sharing, start reaching, start loving as you did at the first. Pray and look for divine opportunities. 
 
Don’t let doubt count you out from entering the great plan of God.
 
 
 
 



[1] https://cosmicbook.news/disney-leak-lgbqt-agends-desantis-responds
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/entertainment/2022/april/people-are-really-fired-up-christians-protest-disneys-woke-agenda-outside-company-headquarters-in-ca
 

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/media/harry-potter-film-china-lgbt-censorship-intl-scli/index.html
 

[3] https://www.christianpost.com/news/only-6-of-americans-have-a-biblical-worldview-survey.html

[4] https://www.barna.com/research/the-end-of-absolutes-americas-new-moral-code/
 

[5] https://www.barna.com/research/sotb-2021/

[6] https://research.lifeway.com/2009/03/23/americans-open-to-outreach-from-churches/#:~:text=A%20recent%20study%20by%20the,would%20effectively%20reach%2063%20percent.
(Although these particular statistics are older, the concept of a family member or friend reaching out still stands.)

​Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash