Stages of faith

In a previous post I talked about doubt and about the one we have called Doubting Thomas. Doubt does not mean the loss of faith. In fact, Paul Tillich once wrote that doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith. He also said, "The old faith must die, eaten away by doubts, but only so that a new and deeper faith may be born." We who are physical or spiritual parents are concerned that faith in the Risen Christ, the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life be passed on and claimed by our children.

To that end we must be aware that this faith has four basic stages:

1. Experienced faith (preschool and early childhood)— in this stage children imitate our actions. They learn to pray the Lord's Prayer, for instance, but certainly do not understand all the meanings of the words. This is simply what we do in our family. This is how we act. 
2. Affiliate faith (childhood and early adolescent years)—Here is where the Christian community begins to be important. Children belong to a group, Sunday School for instance. The group lives and acts in certain ways. So the child imitates what the group does. This is what WE believe and do. This is OUR group or OUR church.
3.  Searching faith (late adolescence) — At this stage the boy is moving toward manhood, the girl toward womanhood. He or she asks, "Is this what I believe?" We spoke about Doubting Thomas. He would not merely accept what others said. He needed to find out for himself. At this stage of faith the believer adds the head to the heart of the earlier stages.
4. Owned faith (early adulthood) -- The maturing believer arrives at this stage only by moving through the searching stage. The young person must deal with doubt. Is this what I believe? We pray that our children will indeed discover what Thomas found. Christ is alive. He is risen indeed. Then they will join Thomas to kneel before the Christ and say, "My Lord and my God." This is an owned faith, not one that others believe. This is the strong, personal faith that openly bears witness to Jesus, a faith the believer is willing to die for.

William Barcley writes:

If we believe someone, we do no more than accept whatever statement that person may be making at the moment as true. If we believe in someone, we accept the whole person and all that that individual stands for in complete trust. We would be prepared not only to trust the spoken word, but also to trust ourselves to that purpose. To believe in Jesus Christ is not simply to accept what he says as true; it is to commit ourselves into his hands, for time and for eternity. 

Certainty is attained through doubt. The man who insists on being sure is going to arrive at a solid and lasting faith, far more certain than the person who glibly repeats things he has never thought out—and which he does not fully believe. Doubt serves that person. Thomas fought his way through doubt to the solid conviction that Jesus Christ was his Lord and his God. Legend says that he went on to become the Apostle to the people of Syria and India.

One more thing about the stages of faith. They are not so clear as the paragraphs above may suggest. We must deal with these stages throughout our lives. Little children ask questions, as do teens. And so do mature adults. Believers of all ages have times of certainty. We celebrate them. On Easter Sunday we shout, "Christ is risen!" And our friends respond, "He is risen indeed!" However, there are times of questioning. Do not despise such moments. We must beware of simply going along with the crowd. There are even times when we must stand against them. Only by working through these times of doubt do we grow.

Perhaps it is best that we do not refer to Thomas as Doubting Thomas—a person we do not want to imitate. Perhaps we should call him Thomas The Confessor. He was, after all, the only one among that crowd of trembling, insecure disciples who openly confessed his faith in Jesus as his risen Lord and God.
May we all come to the same place on our faith journeys.