No Doubt About It: Certainty is Killing Our Faith

You want to know a dangerous lie that's wrecking the Church today? It’s not doubt. It’s certainty.

Somewhere along the way, we bought into this idea that real faith looks like having every answer locked, loaded, and laminated.  No mystery. No tension. No questions allowed. Just smug, self-assured certainty.

But here’s the truth nobody likes to say out loud: Certainty isn’t a sign of strong faith. It’s usually a sign of shallow faith.

Doubt is the Companion of Faith

There’s a scene in the movie Conclave that absolutely wrecked me. The story centers on church leaders grappling with who should become the next Pope—and in one brutally honest speech, a character says:

"There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others: Certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand-in-hand with doubt."

And he keeps going:

"A faith without doubt is like a body without blood. It is a corpse. It cannot sustain life, or grow, or heal. Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is the companion of faith."

Man, if that doesn’t stop you cold, it should.

Even Jesus Wrestled

Jesus—hanging on the cross—cried out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

If the Son of God could wrestle with divine mystery at the darkest moment in history, what makes us think our faith should be airtight, question-free, and bulletproof?

Real faith doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means trusting the God who does.

If we had it all figured out, faith wouldn’t even be necessary.

It’s trust—not certainty—that keeps faith alive.

Lean Not On Your Own Understanding

Let’s talk real life for a minute. If you’ve spent time around this ministry, you know that I lean into tough, messy, polarizing conversations like LGBTQ+, immigration, cultural and political issues. You know, the topics that most church pastors run from. I lean in not because I have all the answers. But because it matters. Because people matter.

The honest truth? There are many aspects of LGBTQ+ I still struggle to fully understand, but I'm trying. But instead of letting my discomfort or my lack of theological clarity harden into certainty, I’m choosing to let it push me closer to people. To lean in. To listen. To love. Not to understand. After all, Jesus didn’t command me to “understand” everyone. He told me to love them - to show them Jesus through me. If God didn't send Jesus to condemn the world, I doubt He sent us to condemn it.

There are no heavenly bonus points for being more conservative than Jesus.

Make Yourself Uncomfortable

If you’ve waded into the comment section on my Facebook page, you’ve seen it: I stay in the discussions. I stay in the tension, the discomfort.

And it’s not because I crave debate or delight in being insulted by those who disagree. Or because I think I'm always right. It’s because I believe something sacred happens when we dare to wrestle with our own convictions. We allow God to show up. To correct us. To change us. To make us more like Him. I'm not trying to convince anyone to agree with me. That’s never been the goal. The goal is courage. Your courage. 

Courage to ask the hard questions of your own faith. Courage to hold up your assumptions to the light of Christ.

I'm not asking you to change your mind. I'm asking you to be bold enough to examine it. Because when we stop questioning, we stop growing. And when we stop growing, our faith stops breathing.

Trust > Certainty

Scripture reminds us: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)

Following Jesus was never supposed to feel like winning a courtroom case or passing a theological exam. It was always meant to feel like trusting a shepherd when the road ahead disappears into the fog of uncertainty.

If your faith has room for mystery, for wrestling, for doubt, for questions? That’s not a weakness. That’s courage.

That’s proof of a living, breathing, active faith in God.

Faith was never about having it all figured out.

It was always about trusting the God who already does.