How much doubt can faith take? How much faith can doubt take? While, on the one hand, some people are being hyped up as true “heroes of the faith,” others are severely unsettled by this. What does the world look like between the extremes of 100% faith and 100% unbelief? And: What about your own insecurities and blind spots?
Now here is a small slider. On the left is faith and on the right is doubt. How much to expect from each can be defined with the slider. Of course, this is only a visualization. It can help to make visible one’s confidence, insecurity or trust. Think of it as a little game with which you can intuitively map your own sense of faith.
Move the slider in the center to the left or right. How would you set it for yourself? The larger the color range (green or blue), the stronger the proportion.
Faith is not always clear
Famous is the story in which Jesus helps a man to recover his son who was influenced by a “speechless spirit”:
“Then He asked [Jesus] his [des Jungen] father, “How long has it been since this happened to him?” Who answered, “From childhood; many times he has [der Geist im Jungen] threw him also into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if you can at all, help us and have mercy on us!” But Jesus said to him, “Why the if? You can believe! All things are possible to him that believeth.” Immediately the father of the child cried out loudly with tears: “I believe! Help my unbelief!”.
Mark 9:21-24
Belief and unbelief are sometimes very close together.
What’s next?
A slider, as shown here above, is of course not very precise. It just gives a diffuse picture. It is just a small attempt to make your own inner world visible. What questions did you think about when hiring? If you want to get to the bottom of these even better, you can try to write down the considerations once. What are the aspects of faith that are very positive for you? What are the real doubts?
It goes further when you face your own questions. You can be sure: You will share your assessment and questions with many other people – no matter how you formulate it. Questions about faith are always questions about life. How we see ourselves, our world, or even God are not isolated questions. At the same time, there is an astonishing amount of doubt that belongs to faith, of which we are seldom aware. It’s a complex interaction. World view, image of God and image of man belong together. Faith is never detached from this world, but is an integral part of it – just like doubt.
