At CityGate we meet many people who are thoughtful and reflective and who have real questions about life. They have picked up the impression or have been told that this is somehow wrong. Many Christians find the idea of doubt frightening and even sinful and are warned away from thinking by their leaders. This is a deep travesty as we are commanded by God to love him with all our mind. We should not fear questions and doubts. God, who knows everything, surely already knows that these exist. Denial of this reality does not honour Him. Telling someone not to doubt or not to have questions is like telling them not to be cold or to stop being hungry.

Questions and doubts are the birthplace of learning. Honest doubt is faith in two minds, trust that has not yet decided among options; in what do I put my faith – in this or that. The biblical opposite of simplicity is not complexity but duplicity – the heart divided. Honest doubt is duplicity on a journey to simplicity. There is a form of dishonest doubt; the lack of will to believe – This kind of doubt is not open to change and hides in its duplicity.

One goal of Christian maturity is to come to a singleness of heart directed towards loving obedience to God. If we do not doubt well then we may be making claims to omniscience which are inappropriate. Honest doubt is essential for the re-evaluation of our judgements.

The Christian should never be afraid of honest questions. We do not have all the answers but we do know the One who does. He is the source and sustainer of all reality. Because of this we may enter into discussion about the questions and issues of those who come to us with doubts, questions and fears about life and indeed ask our own questions. We should be able to do this without fear of criticism, scorn or simplistic answers.

Our goal is to help people come from faith in anything and everything to trust in Christ and to a restored relationship with our creator and to help people sort out what is real among the many claims of present life. We need to create space that allows for the articulation of honest doubts and questions and the assumptions behind those that are dishonest.

Honest questions and doubts do not often come properly formulated to the mind. They tumble out, muddled and confused. It takes time to sort them out and organize them. The process can be confusing and even disturbing. A listening ear can be so helpful to the process.  In order for this to occur trust must be established.

The purpose of Safe Space is to allow people who come into our orbit to be and feel secure enough to formulate, articulate and ask their most significant questions in an atmosphere of trust and respect.

Doubt and questions may threaten the teacher who is not comfortable as a listener, or who finds that not having all the answers is a shame too large to bare; perhaps the question exposes personal doubts long since buried. The temptation is to shout the questioner down with ridicule or to brush the question off as unimportant.  

Another temptation of the teacher / pastor / mentor is to correct mistakes too quickly, as if getting the correct formulation into the discussion is the solution. Often the opposite happens. The language is corrected but the questioner is quiet, retreating with the question unanswered and one less place to ask it; for the questioner does not always understand their own question. It is not yet mature and what they really need is help to shape it; a place to learn to walk whist we assume they can run.

There is no place in the life of the Church for hardness of heart towards people who are honestly struggling to find answers or define reality. We may misunderstand or find the questions threatening. We may not like the hard work which pushes us from our complacent beliefs and we may not know the answers and find this exposes our vulnerability and occasionally our pride but we can provide the love and direction for those who are seeking and being drawn by God to himself.

Safe Space is a set of values and attitudes to which we hold ourselves accountable. These come from a belief that people are made in the image of God and are therefore worthy of respect.

This space is a medium for the development of trust. Safe Space is not only about intellectual pursuits and knowledge. It includes these but we believe that human beings are more than “mere” minds with bodies. Safe Space is NOT another “think tank” but a place for personal growth towards maturity. It takes seriously the reality that our belief is more than intellectual assent to a concept but entry into a relationship with the Personal and infinite God who is the source, centre and sustainer of all reality.

We do not promise we have all the answers or that we know all the questions but we are committed to respecting those people who come to us, to treat them with dignity. Honest Answers for Honest Questions as they say at L’Abri.

Many people struggle to trust their thoughts and feelings to other people. There has been abuse in their past and they are reluctant to try again. One aspect of trust is appropriate voluntary self-revelation. We must not force personal revelation but encourage it in appropriate ways; this includes discouraging it when it is too much too soon.  When we are invited in the sanctuary of another person’s soul we are treading on sacred space.

It is important also to say what “Safe Space” is not.

Safe Space must not become a false Christ – an idol where we are protected from the harsh realities of the real world of daily life. It is not a place to hide. Trust in Christ is the safest space. 

Safe Space is not unchallenging space. If fact, the opposite must be true if it is to be of any use at all. It must be very challenging space but only as trust and communication are built up. It is thinking space and our thoughts must be challenged. It is space to test our assumptions and perceptions of reality. It is “good” space, where the demands placed on people will be in line with their capacity to address their issues. People will leave this Safe Space encouraged – given more courage – blessed – made larger in mind and as a person. They will be more self aware and more able to articulate the issues they face. They may have answers to their questions or they may have discovered the question was less important than they first thought. They will have discovered larger questions in line with a larger reality which includes the activity of the almighty and eternal God. By His grace they will have met in some measure with God himself – who to know, is the answer to every question and the resting place for all our doubts.

Aspects, attitudes and values important for Safe Space include:

• Time
• Concentrated listening
• Non-judgemental but discerning
• The search for wisdom
• Appropriate stimulus and structure for thought and study
• No clichéd, formulaic answers
• There is no such thing as a “stupid” question, only honest and dishonest questions.
• Respect for persons
• Freedom and a framework for asking real questions
• Creativity and form
• Beauty, order, balance
• Biblical Orthodoxy that trusts in Christ and not in a theological system and is therefore open to thought.
• Theology that is deep and relevant
• Takes people seriously
• Demonstrates that life is serious

Environment and experience

• Being listened to, heard and understood
• Being taken seriously
• Being trusted
• Living in community
• Being valued as unique
• Encouraging self examination rather than introspection
• Being loved
• Being challenged
• Telling the truth in Love
• Experiencing and seeing models of the good
• Encouraging personal honesty
• Courage to face and enter into a larger reality that includes God

Our goals include:

• The desire to see mature believers thinking theologically about their sphere of life,
• Making sense of the issues of our times and responding to them.
• Provide a non-intrusive opportunity for people to find their direction / calling / strengths and weaknesses.
• Learning more about reality, what it is and how to live in it
• Discovering and being freed from areas of personal idolatry
• Learning to live life on several horizons / levels. The level of eternity and of the present.
• Time to think and regain perspective.
• Expanding perceptions of life / reality.
• Building confidence in God and His revealed word.
• Expanding personal knowledge of God
• Become God centred in thinking
• Learning to think theologically

This sort of space should be a mark of the Church. It is part of our modelling the kingdom of God coming.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning”  – Albert Einstein