Indubitably Merciful, a devotional thought

There’s an unusual command for us in Jude 1:22 that I've been thinking about recently. Our denomination (the Free Methodist Church in Canada) is right now in the middle of a couple of very challenging conversations about some of our doctrinal positions, and the best way to hold those positions as followers of Jesus. After some recent discussions I've had with some of my colleagues about all this, Jude 1:22 came to mind forcibly for me.

Jude’s talking about the way Christians are supposed to be in their interactions with different people, both in and outside the church, and in v. 22 it says, “Be merciful to those who doubt.” It's interesting, because the Greek word for “doubt” there refers to a believer who is experiencing doubt or wavering in their belief, more than it does an unbeliever who has rejected the faith or plain never accepted it. It's not about the doubt of the disbeliever, it's about believers, whoever they may be, who happen to be scratching their heads over questions of doctrine, position statements on theological issues, the stridently-held truth claims of their own tradition.

It is, I think, a very tender thing for Jude to say. Sometimes we go through times in our lives, experiences, life changes or unexpected circumstances that leave us in seasons of doubt, questioning our faith, maybe, wrestling with the really hard questions, hanging on by a thread. This is true for even the most stalwart of Christians. And sometimes, I’ve noticed, when Christians are in these times and places, it can leave other Christians feeling threatened, uncomfortable, judgmental, anxious to “double-down” on their beliefs, and looking for trite platitudes to sweep the doubter’s “doubt” under the “easy-believism” rug. Inasmuch as so much seems to ride on faith, for the Christian, genuine doubting can be very disconcerting.

If you’ve ever seen what I’m trying to describe here, and how unhelpful the trite platitudes are, how harmful the judgement can be, how much damage the anxious efforts to double-down can cause, then maybe you’ll feel how tender Jude is being here, too. “Show all kinds of gracious, gentle mercy,” he says, “for anyone among you who's in that doubting place.” Mercy, he says, is what’s needed when doubtful conversations happen between brothers and sisters in the Lord. When you read it in the broader context of the surrounding verses, it looks like mercy is also what will bring the doubter through, to firm footing again. May God give his people grace to be as merciful with each other as he is with us.