Where was God before He created anything?  Is it really possible for God to know everything and humans have free will simultaneously?  How was it possible for Jesus to be fully God and fully man without being two people in body?  If Jesus really was raised from the dead, why isn’t there more evidence outside the Bible?

Doubts.  At some level or another, we have all had them.  Christians, Atheists, Agnostics, I’m-not-sure-what-I-ams — at some time or another we have been faced with questions about God and God’s actions in our world.  In a lot of places, asking such questions is taboo.  While everyone may wonder how it is possible to have three persons in one person (or one in three), no one is really allowed to ask.  Maybe you have thought to yourself “how can a good God condemn someone to eternal torture in hell, regardless of that person’s choices?”  Then, immediately after you finish that thought, you think “If I ask someone this question at church, they will think I have lost my faith.”

I have found that providing a safe place to ask these questions and search for answers together is a very effective way to disciple young adults.  Twentysomethings often are exploring their Christianity for the first time apart from their parents and are seeking to claim it as their own faith, not just the faith of their family.  However, if they are unable to ask these tough questions, it is easy for them to just leave the faith as irrelevant superstition.  When given the opportunity to ask these questions in a safe and guided biblical discussion, these same doubting individuals are transformed into the likeness of Christ.

It is through the communal search for God’s truth in the face of doubt that the Holy Spirit is able to transform the individual in his or her innermost being.