THE CHURCH AS A PLACE OF DOUBT
“This is bulls**t.” These were the last words that Andrea Palpant Dilley said to her father as she walked out of church in the middle of a sermon. She did not return for a little more than two years.
Eventually she returned, but still possessed the same questions and doubts that made her leave. Her story is like the story of so many. Those who cannot reconcile Christianity and the world in which we live.
Perhaps the problem is not with the thousands of people like Andrea, but with those who are in the church. The ones who attempt to explain everything and answer every question. In doing so they effectively say, "Doubt is not welcome here." Which causes many to feel as though they are not welcome.
What if it was different? What would it be like if the Church was known as the place where we could struggle, ask questions and voice doubt? Is it possible that we would see fewer people who feel the need to walk away?
Andrea recently wrote an article on the CNN Belief Blog about her experience. Reading it has caused me to wonder how we can better embrace struggle and doubt. What do you think about what she wrote? Is it too simple of an explanation? Does it match your experience?
Here is her article titled, My Faith: Returning to the Church, Despite My Doubts. She writes:
"During my junior year in college, I took a butter knife from my mother’s kitchen and scraped the Christian fish decal off the back bumper of the Plymouth hatchback I’d inherited from my older brother. Stripping off that sticker foreshadowed the day, a few years later, that I would walk out of church ..."