Instead of making people choose between their faith and doubt, we should be there to help people doubt faithfully.
John the Baptist Doubts - Jesus Responds.
Of all the people who should have known without a hint of doubt who Jesus was, why would John the Baptist have sent his disciples to go ask Jesus this question found in Matthew 11:3?
Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?
Scripture says he had already heard of the works that Christ was doing before he even sent his disciples to ask.
Yet he doubted.
There is no sign of Jesus sending a rebuke to him for doubting. Matthew 11:4-6 reveals His calm response.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
If we want to theologically break down John the Baptist's question, we will find that there is good reason why he may have doubted.
Perhaps John, being imprisoned, and knowing the scriptures well, thought that the Messianic kingdom would most certainly include "The opening of the prison to them that are bound." Notice one of the most popular Messianic prophecies in Isaiah 61 where it includes:
...And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Notice that in Jesus' response (scripted above) to John, that He does not include anything concerning releasing those bound in prison.
Let's compare the two passages side by side:
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Doubting Faithfully
Too often we set people up for failure by teaching them that faith is a binary choice between certainty and unbelief. When the doubt sets in, people sense that they must either ignore their doubts (and pretend they're certain) or spiritually isolate themselves in order to process their doubts, neither of these are the best remedies. So instead of making people choose between their faith and doubt, it would be better if we were grounded enough to help people doubt faithfully.
If you want to follow the God of the Bible, but you have questions (Just like John the Baptist did) about the whole Christian thing and who Jesus really is and how His kingdom is designed to operate, you are on the right path. They say wise men still seek Him. Sometimes seeking necessitates asking questions.
Even John, who was the forerunner of Jesus and is said to have been the second Elijah. Even John, who Baptized Jesus and acknowledged him for who he was... Even John, for some reason, felt enough uncertainty later in his life, about who Jesus was, that he felt the need to ask.
If Jesus could handle the doubt of such a great influential person like John the Baptist, He can still handle our doubts over 2000 years later.
Never feel shame for needing to ask questions.