If you ask around, people have plenty of opinions about what’s “wrong” with the Church right now. Politics. Cultural compromise. Deconstruction. Gen Z. TikTok. (Always TikTok.) But maybe the biggest problem facing the Church today isn’t something out there. Maybe it’s something we’ve gotten used to on the inside.
Here’s the real issue: we’ve made it easier to fake faith than to live it honestly. We’ve taught people to perform certainty instead of pursuing truth. We’ve turned doubt into a red flag while hypocrisy gets promoted to leadership.
Jesus never called out someone for having questions. But He had plenty to say to people who looked holy on the outside and rotten on the inside.
In the Gospels, it’s not the doubters or skeptics who get rebuked. It’s the spiritual actors. The ones who tithe their spices but ignore justice. The ones who pray loud in public but don’t love people in private. The ones who clean the outside of the cup but leave the inside grimy.
Even Jude 1:22 gets straight to it: “Be merciful to those who doubt.” Not correct them. Not cancel them. Show mercy.
And yet somehow, modern church culture flips that script. Ask a hard question, and people get nervous. Admit you’re struggling, and suddenly you’re “backsliding.” But show up every Sunday, smile through the mess, repost a few inspirational verses, and you’re golden.
This isn’t faith. It’s theater.
Lysa TerKeurst put it bluntly: “God doesn’t heap shame on us when we struggle. He doesn’t roll His eyes when we wrestle with fear or doubt. Instead, He meets us there.” That’s not just comforting—it’s biblical. The Psalms are full of confusion, grief and even rage. Job questioned everything. Thomas wanted receipts. None of them got kicked out of the story.
Doubt isn’t spiritual failure. It’s the start of something real. It’s what happens when you care enough to wrestle. When you stop outsourcing your theology and start asking, “Do I actually believe this? And if I do, does it change how I live?”
Worship artist John Mark McMillan once questioned, “If your faith doesn’t leave space for mystery, is it even faith?”
Exactly. Real faith isn’t afraid of questions—it’s forged in them.
So what is dangerous? Pretending. Projecting. Using religion as a mask for control, ego or image. Weaponizing Scripture to avoid accountability. Keeping people quiet because their honesty makes you uncomfortable.
Jesus never said “blessed are the ones who play the part.” He said “blessed are the poor in spirit”—the ones who admit they don’t have it all figured out.
The Church doesn’t need more polished performances. It needs more people willing to be honest. People who care more about loving well than looking right. People who wrestle and stay. People who ask hard questions and don’t walk away the second they don’t get a clean answer.
The biggest threat to the Church isn’t doubt, discomfort or deconstruction. It’s the quiet culture of pretending that keeps us from actually changing.
So go ahead. Be honest. Be curious. Be real. God can handle your questions. What He’s not into is the act.
Because the Church’s biggest problem was never doubt—it’s forgetting how much we need grace.
