Doubt Is Not a Virtue

One last thought as we sweep away some of the clutter about holiness.

I don’t remember the issue my friend and I were talking about — it had something to do with Christianity — but I do remember my friend’s response: “Gosh, I’m not really sure,” he said. And I thought it a humble and gracious posture to take. Only it’s been five years now and he’s still saying, “I’m not really sure.” He has landed in that place. Now I see what happened. He has chosen doubt, a posture very attractive and honored in our day.

Doubt is “in.”

…So doubt, masquerading as humility, has become a virtue, a prerequisite for respect. People of strong conviction are suspect. Many Christians I know have settled for a sort of laid-back doubt, believing it to be a genuine character decision; they thinks it’s a virtue. Now, I appreciate the desire for humility, and the fear of being dogmatic. I think those are good concerns. But friends, conviction is not the enemy. Pride is. Arrogance is. But not conviction. As G. K. Chesterton said, “An open mind is really a mark of foolishness, like an open mouth … The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

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