Don't be stupid, be curious | Pastor Mike Frisch

Devotional

Day 1: When Belief and Unbelief Collide in a Father’s Cry

A desperate father’s raw prayer reveals how faith and doubt often hold hands in our darkest moments. His plea—“I believe; help my unbelief!”—captures the tension many feel when life’s pain outpaces easy answers. This man’s story reminds us that God welcomes honest wrestling, not performative certainty. Doubt becomes sacred ground when we bring it into the light, trusting that Jesus meets us in the mess. His response to the father wasn’t condemnation but compassion, proving our questions don’t scare the One who holds all answers. [01:01:09]

“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’”
(Mark 9:24, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life do you feel both belief and doubt tangling like vines? What would it look like to name that tension aloud to God today?

Day 2: The Unlocked Door of Prayer for the Uncertain

Prayer isn’t a reward for the doubt-free but a lifeline for the questioning. Unlike guarded homes with ring cameras, heaven’s door has no passcode—just an open invitation to bring our messy “why?” and “how long?” moments. The same God who endured the cross’ brutality isn’t intimidated by our confusion. He leans into whispers like “if you can do anything” and responds with grace, not eye-rolls. Prayer becomes the bridge where our uncertainty meets His unchanging character. [01:04:00]

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
(Matthew 7:7, ESV)

Reflection: When has doubt tempted you to avoid prayer? How might approaching God as a curious child—not a graded student—change your conversations with Him?

Day 3: Why Your Doubt Needs a Coffee Date and a QR Code

Doubt grows in isolation but shrinks in community. The father didn’t face his crisis alone—he brought his son first to disciples, then to Jesus. Active Church’s QR code initiative mirrors this truth: buried questions become shared journeys. Just as the man needed others to carry his son to healing, we need safe people who won’t shame our “stupid” questions but point us to wisdom. Faith thrives when we stop whispering doubts to search engines and start sharing them over coffee. [01:15:31]

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
(Proverbs 13:20, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life has earned the right to hear your unfiltered doubts? What’s one question you’ve been too nervous to ask aloud?

Day 4: Foaming Mouths and the Freedom to Say “I Don’t Know”

The boy’s violent seizures and the disciples’ failed help created a perfect storm for doubt. Yet Jesus didn’t scold the father’s shaky faith—He honored its mustard-seed sincerity. This story gives permission to admit when life’s chaos outpaces our theology. Like the dad who’d tried everything, we’re invited to bring our exhausted “I don’t understands” to the One who calms storms. Real faith isn’t pretending certainty but persisting through confusion. [58:44]

“And he answered them, ‘O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.’”
(Mark 9:19, ESV)

Reflection: What current situation feels like a “foaming mouth” moment—overwhelming and beyond your control? How might surrendering it to Jesus look different than trying to fix it alone?

Day 5: The Church Where “Stupid Questions” Get Hot Chocolate

Miss Williams’ fourth-grade classroom—with its hot chocolate and question-friendly sign—became a metaphor for how church should operate. Active Church mirrors this, creating space for atheists, agnostics, and anxious believers to explore faith without pretense. Just as the father’s doubt led to his son’s healing, our curiosity becomes the gateway to deeper trust. When we trade shame for humble seeking, we discover a God who’s less like a disapproving teacher and more like a patient potter. [01:12:08]

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
(1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

Reflection: When have you held back a question for fear of sounding foolish? What step could you take this week to pursue answers with “gentleness and respect” for your own doubts?

Sermon Summary

Doubt sets the table for holy curiosity, not shame. The invitation Jesus gives is clear and simple: ask, seek, knock, because wisdom sits on the other side of honest questions. The call here is to stop playing it close to the chest and start naming the ache, since pretending is what suffocates faith, not doubt. The opening move is practical and biblical: bring questions straight to God in prayer and bring them to trusted people who walk wisely and love well.

Matthew’s closing scene shows that worship and doubt can stand in the same crowd. The risen Christ commissions the disciples, and yet some doubt. That tension is not a disqualifier; it is the context where Jesus still entrusts his mission. Mark’s story puts skin on that reality. A desperate dad, formed by a world of many gods and heavy superstition, names his pain and blurts out, If you can. Jesus pushes gently but firmly, If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes. The father’s confession lands where many hearts live most days: I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief. Jesus does not flinch, scold, or dismiss. He receives a mixed heart with mercy.

That scene reframes the modern split between the miraculous and medicine. In places without access to care, God often heals in ways that look like the Gospels. In places with deep medical wisdom, God heals through doctors, nurses, therapy, and good science. Either way, the Healer is moving. So curiosity does not pit science against Scripture; curiosity asks better questions and looks for God’s goodness everywhere he is at work.

Prayer becomes the doorway of full access to the Father. Nothing off limits, no passcode, just honest words offered to the God who listens. And the church becomes the safe room to process doubt in conversation with those who have proven character, who set an example in life, speech, love, and service. The next faithful step is not to stuff questions but to bring them into the light.

The line to hold onto sounds like a classroom sign hung over the kingdom’s desk: don’t be stupid, be curious. Loving God with all the mind looks exactly like this. Doubt is an opportunity to get curious, and curiosity is how disciples grow up.

Key Takeaways

1. Doubt invites holy curiosity Curiosity moves a person from paralysis to pursuit. Questions become acts of trust when they are brought into God’s presence and into wise conversations. Nothing is off limits because God is not threatened by honest wrestling. Curiosity is not a detour from faith, it is a door into deeper faith. [48:56]
2. Belief and doubt can coexist The Scriptures show worship and doubt standing shoulder to shoulder, and Jesus still commissions such people. The father in Mark 9 names both realities in one breath, and Jesus meets him with mercy, not scorn. Growth happens where trust and tension meet, because grace does its best work in the gray. [61:30]
3. Bring your doubts to Jesus in prayer Prayer is full access to the Father, not a locked door. Ask, seek, and knock names a posture that keeps returning with candor until peace and wisdom are given. God may not answer every question at once, but he never leaves a sincere seeker empty-handed. [65:39]
4. Seek wisdom in trusted community The dad first approached disciples, modeling how questions belong with God’s people too. Walk with the wise and their practiced faith will steady anxious hearts and sharpen thinking. Look for those whose life, speech, love, and service have earned your trust, and ask plainly for time and counsel. [66:30]
5. Pretending, not doubt, kills faith Performance hardens the heart; honesty opens it to grace. Loving God with the mind means surfacing questions without fear and letting Scripture, Spirit, and saints shape the answers. Authenticity is the soil where resilient faith takes root. [69:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:14] - Real-life questions vs faith silence
[44:33] - Why doubts stay hidden
[48:35] - The Benefit of Doubt: thesis
[50:03] - Word to the gift of belief
[51:59] - Great Commission: worship and doubt
[54:01] - A desperate father finds Jesus
[55:04] - Ancient worldview and modern medicine
[59:00] - If you can; honest confession
[64:00] - Prayer as full access to God
[66:30] - Bring doubt to wise community
[69:51] - Doubt isn’t the enemy; pretending is
[72:56] - Don’t be stupid, be curious
[74:59] - Practice and resources; ask, seek, knock
[78:32] - Closing prayer and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 9:23-24 (ESV)
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Matthew 7:7 (ESV)
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Observation Questions

In Mark 9:24, the father says, “I believe; help my unbelief!” What two emotions or states of heart does this statement reveal?
In Matthew 28:17, what two responses do the disciples have when they see the risen Jesus?
According to the sermon, how does Jesus respond to the father’s doubt in Mark 9:23-24? Does He dismiss him or engage him? [01:00:48]
What practical invitation does Jesus give in Matthew 7:7 for those wrestling with uncertainty?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus chose to commission the disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 even though “some doubted”? What does this say about His view of doubt?
The father in Mark 9:24 holds belief and doubt simultaneously. How does this story challenge the idea that doubt disqualifies someone from receiving God’s help?
The sermon mentions that God heals both through miracles and medicine. How does this reframe the tension between faith and science? [57:32]
In Matthew 7:7, Jesus says, “Ask… seek… knock.” What does this imply about God’s posture toward our questions?

Application Questions

When have you felt like the father in Mark 9:24—simultaneously believing and doubting? How might you bring that tension to Jesus in prayer this week?
The sermon emphasizes that “pretending, not doubt, kills faith.” Where in your life are you tempted to hide doubts instead of naming them? [01:09:51]
Who is one person in your life (or at church) that has “proven character” and could help you process a specific doubt? What step will you take to reach out to them? [01:06:30]
Jesus’ command to “ask, seek, knock” in Matthew 7:7 is active. What is one question about God, faith, or suffering you’ve avoided asking—and how will you start pursuing an answer?
The sermon says curiosity helps us “love God with all our mind.” What practical habit (e.g., journaling doubts, studying a Bible passage, joining a group) could help you grow in holy curiosity? [01:11:25]
How can you create a “safe room” in your relationships for others to voice their doubts without fear of judgment?

Sermon Clips

We thought along the way that doubt is the enemy of faith. Can I just be very clear with you? Doubt is not the enemy of faith. Pretending is. cannot be faithful when you pretend. So don't pretend. Be be as genuine and as authentic as you can in your pursuit of God and in your relationship with Jesus. By the way, this is how, through our curiosity, this is how we love the Lord our God with all of our mind. [01:09:46] (44 seconds) #AuthenticFaith

Man, if there is a statement in the scriptures that you and I can connect with and relate to, isn't it this? Oh, man. God, you're moving and I'm still afraid. God, you are doing a great work and forgiving, but I'm still mad at them. Belief and doubt coexist. And if belief belief and doubt coexist and Jesus addresses it in a compassionate and very kind and helpful way, then that means we don't have to be afraid of it. [01:01:30] (33 seconds) #FaithAndDoubtCoexist

The way that we bring all of this including our doubt to our heavenly father is through this beautiful invitation, this beautiful practice of prayer. Prayer is how we bring our doubts to God. Do you know you have full and complete access to the creator of all things? That you don't have to have a passcode? That you don't need to know a combination? You do to get into my house. You got a door door code, there's a bolt, there's even a top lock because we're we're scared. Right? [01:03:51] (41 seconds) #PrayerIsAccess

So not only can we bring our doubts to God, but you can bring your doubts to God's people. And not just anybody. You know, still pull some rando off the street and be like, listen, can we talk about God's love for a moment? I have a question about it. But you share the deep personal doubts that you have with people that have earned trust and have integrity with you. I would even go further to say the people that you should pay attention to, that you can bring your doubts to, are the ones that have set an example for believers in life and in speech and in love and in service. [01:06:35] (33 seconds) #TrustedFaithCommunity

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Don't be stupid, be curious | Pastor Mike Frisch | Active Church Yucaipa