Mercy For Those Who Doubt

"And have mercy on those who doubt." Jude 1:22 ESV

I find, that all too often we treat those who doubt the validity of the message of salvation through Jesus Christ as if they are permanently locked in complete rebellion. While I agree that those who don't acknowledge Jesus as their Savior are by definition, in open rebellion, they don't understand rebellion the way a saved person does. I believe that is why God's word tells me to "have mercy on those who doubt."

As a whole, we tend to judge people way too quickly from time to time don't we? We treat those who doubt or skeptical people's questions with quick rebuttals or some sort of religious comeback you heard on a radio show or read in a book, and sadly these same folks are all to often dismissed as people who simply thumb their noses at God. When in reality they are searching for an answer to a question that is plaguing them.

Take a minute and think about the time before your conversion. You know what I mean, that time before you came to know who Jesus was, the time when you would walk on the other side of the street to avoid the pastor or pretend you weren't home when the visitation team from church came by on Tuesday nights. When someone talked to you about God and what He did for you, did it sink in immediately? Or did it take a while before you started to come around to the idea that there was a God that could love someone enough to sacrifice His Son for them? While I don't want to dwell on my life before the cross, I certainly don't want to forget it. It is a powerful tool when it is used correctly.

But having mercy on someone who doubts God and whose life obviously reflects that doubt doesn't mean that we are to excuse their lifestyle. We are called to be honest with doubters about a life lived in resistance of God. It is our honesty that can put them in a position to allow God to shape their eternal future. We have to use our time before the cross to show them that there is a way out of the doubt and that they have a future.

In my humble opinion, mercy means that we are to treat them as the same eternal beings we are and show them the same level of grace that was once shown to us. They are worth the same amount as we are, there is no difference between us on either side of the cross. This means that we need to actively listen to their questions without answering in a way that will make them feel in anyway spiritually inferior. Take a minute when you are talking to them and remember what it felt like when church people looked in your direction and apply the mercy you received to them.

I have heard the book of Jude preached a few times and I have read through it more than once and I can promise you that Jude knew what it meant to be merciful. He had the greatest teacher on the subject, his brother, Jesus. After all, Jesus was a master of it. All we have to do is go to the same teacher Jude had and He will teach us the same lessons of mercy He taught Jude, all we need do is apply it.