Over the last few months, I’ve looked at how we reach different kinds of people — prodigals, military families, Gen Z and others. Each mission field has unique challenges and characteristics. Another group I want to look at is doubters.

I recently interviewed Preston Ulmer, lead pastor of Discover Church in the Highlands (Assemblies of God) in Denver and co-founder of The Doubter’s Club. Several years ago, when Ulmer was planting the church, he developed a friendship with an atheist. They began talking and sharing, and decided to start The Doubter’s Club, a place where a doubter and a believer model friendship and pursue truth together.

During the past few years, Ulmer has seen many doubters come to faith in Christ and follow the Lord in baptism, and this has helped build Discover Church. Ulmer and I discussed some of the things he has learned in this process. 

Kristi Northup: Explain the term “doubter” to me a little more.
Preston Ulmer: I define doubters as people who intellectually challenge the veracity of Christ and the Bible. Some of them consider themselves atheist or agnostic, but others don’t attach a definition to it.

Personally, if I’m not questioning my own faith, something is off with me. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which means “wrestler.” Then He named a whole nation off the word “wrestler.” The Scriptures are full of stories of people who wrestled with God.

But wrestling has to happen close. When I’m not wrestling, something’s off with my faith. The common ground with doubters is to say, “I’m wrestling, too. We can do this together.” 

What are some unique characteristics and challenges of doubters?
In America, many doubters have a faith or church upbringing in their past, either evangelical or Catholic. Somewhere along the way, they begin to doubt the minor things, and they’re taught that if they doubt any part, the whole thing has been jeopardized.

But oftentimes, it’s teachings that aren’t even essential to Christianity. It grows in concentric circles — doubting minor things, to doubting major things. Then they begin to study Church history to support their argument.

Another thing I often see is people who are now missing the community that church used to offer them. Their family doesn’t have the same types of interactions if they grew up in church. One of the reasons people love The Doubter’s Club is because of the sense of community it provides.

“We encourage people to invite unbelievers into their lives and show the character of Christ.”
— Preston Ulmer

What can the Church do to reach out to doubters?
From personal experience, it’s been a major fear of the Church to ask the questions we’re not prepared to answer. Church is comfortable when we have an answer, but not when we’re wrestling alongside the doubters. The new apologetic — like human sexuality, personal experience, the hiddenness of God — these are issues everyone is wrestling with.

When it comes to any number of people groups, we have books and classes, and we learn how to evangelize the Muslims or the Mormons. One of the keys is patience. Another is genuine friendship, being with them and not leaving them. But when it comes to atheists, there’s a lack of sympathy, and a belief that they’re not going to be reached.

All the things that make evangelism worthwhile are absent when we talk about doubters. The funny thing is that the principles are the same. When evangelism revolves around having the right answers, we’ve missed it. It’s 100 percent built on relationship — a relationship with Jesus.

When I tell stories, people ask, “Have they been saved yet?” I say, “Regardless, I’m still there.” What about other people’s upbringing? What if they were abused in the Church? It takes time and investment and genuine care to have the privilege of hearing people’s stories, and understanding why they have come to these conclusions about God.

We have Five I’s that help people engage in this process, and it leads into discipleship. We’re not making converts; we’re making disciples, and that process starts before people even accept Christ.

Impression. Do you leave a good impression on people? If you say, “We want to have you over,” do you follow through on what you have said?

Invitation into life. We encourage people to invite unbelievers into their lives and show the character of Christ. It can be a matter of saying to them, “I’m running to Walmart. Do you need anything?”

Intention. If they’re still not saved, are you still going to be their friend? I might water, I might plant the seed, but only God can bring the increase. This is about not having ulterior motives for caring for people.

Initiation. People can show care, but we also encourage them to actually initiate conversations about Jesus:

• “I love you too much; I want to tell you my story.”
• “Could we read a book together?”
• “Can you come to church with me?”

Immersion and imitation. With doubters, water baptism is a real line in the sand that declares they have accepted Christ. Imitation is trying to be like Jesus. They’ve made the decision. Now they are pursuing the character of Christ. 

I’ve had the chance to speak at a few events alongside you. I’ve been amazed that at each and every place, someone says, “I want to start a Doubter’s Club.” What can someone do if they want to create a place where doubters and believers can model friendship and pursue truth together?
We really want to help people launch a successful Doubter’s Club. We love walking the road with them and seeing the amazing things that God does when we give Him the chance. We have an eight-week training course, and people can reach out to me if it’s something God has put in their heart to do.