I recently finished the new I Am Second documentary on race car driver Don Wickstrum called, Chasing Hope. I shared some candid thoughts about it over on the blog, but there’s something else I wanted to share here.
The documentary follows Don’s goal to summit Colorado’s Pike’s Peak as part of the legendary Pikes Peak Hill Climb auto race, all while battling a cancer diagnosis.
There’s a moment in the documentary that especially stood out to me. It’s when Don is explaining how he’s an assistant pastor at his local church in Monroe, Wisconsin. And even though God has called him to spread the message of Jesus via his journey to summit the mountain, there are still people that wonder if it’s the best idea.
“I can’t say everybody’s on board with me going up this mountain,” he says. “Every Sunday for the last month before I leave, ladies will come up to me typically crying wondering how my wife can do it.”
That got me thinking: If a pastor who is making Jesus known can have people in his life wonder if his method is wise, you better believe that you and I are going to face similar doubts in our lives.
Before I go any further, let me be clear: I don’t think the people in Don’s congregation are mean. I don’t think they’re bad people. I don’t even think they’re necessarily wrong. I think it is a very logical question to ask a dad battling cancer if racing up a mountain at 100+ miles per hour is the best idea. In fact, Don himself calls those people “awesome” and says “they do it out of love.”
But two things can be true at the same time. Don can be called to do what he’s doing while also having to give a defense of why he’s doing it.
And that brings me here: You and I are going to face doubters in our lives. It’s tempting to just ignore them. It’s tempting to dismiss them. But I actually don’t think that’s what we should do. That’s the easy thing to say. That’s the thing you stick on a coffee cup and sell on Etsy. But I think a better route is to hear the doubters. To give them space to ask us questions.
See, I think God allows doubters in our lives at times so that we are forced to give a defense of the calling he’s put on our lives. So we’re forced to wrestle with it, and then come out the other side with an even greater confidence. That’s what the doubters in Don’s life did for his calling. They actually strengthened his resolve. That’s not to say those questions aren’t tough, and that bad doubts can creep in. But I think the people asking us questions and challenging us are good for our faith – are good for our resolve. Why? Because if our calling can’t stand basic scrutiny, basic questions, then maybe it’s not really our calling. And maybe those “doubters” are actually helping push us toward what we’re actually supposed to be doing.
That’s been true in my life. There have been things I thought for sure I should be doing. But when those close to me started asking the tough questions, I couldn’t really answer them. And through more discovery and prayer, I realized that they were right.
But then there have been other times where those same people have asked me important questions and I was able to give them incredible answers. I’ve been able to describe “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” I’ve been able to be Don.
Friend, we live in a time when everyone is telling us, “you are enough.” We’re living in a time when the idea that we might actually have to defend what we say, think, or believe with clear arguments is frowned upon. We want to live by our “feelings,” and cut out anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
I’m here to tell you we need to be challenged. We need to know, understand, and articulate what God has put inside of us. We need the doubters.
Because in the end, we’re better for it.
“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
1 Peter 3:14-17