Doubt and deny? Pfft. We don’t have to stay there.

Denying Jesus isn’t as bad as doubting him. At least that is what has been packaged through the centuries when it comes to Peter, who denies Jesus and Thomas who doubts him.

We know the story. Peter’s three denials increase in intensity. First, he gives a simple denial to a servant girl who claims he was “with” Jesus. Second, he denies to another servant girl and a group of bystanders that he was “one of them.” Finally, he denies with a vehement oath to a group of bystanders that he was “one of them” (Matthew 26:69–74, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-65, and John 18:25-27).

These scenes carried through all four gospels are not forgotten in the Holy Week story; they are a painful part of the painful narrative; but through the centuries Peter isn’t dubbed Denying Peter. Thomas, in contrast, does receive his lasting title, Doubting Thomas. His title isn’t actually biblical. In the text, he is not dubbed Doubting Thomas. However, in John 20:24-31, he does question the risen Christ’s authenticity. “I won’t believe [the resurrection itself] unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side” (v. 25b).

Doubting isn’t worse than denying, and if Christian one upmanship does exist (and sadly it does), we need to be careful not to keep doubting lower than denying. More importantly, we need to understand with the grace and the humility Jesus not only taught but also lived the following: each of us has denied and doubted, perhaps at the same time! Even the saints among us—and you may be one of them—have stumbled somewhere. Rather than pick apart the faith (or the faithlessness) of these two disciples, or all the disciples for that matter, a greater gain in our faith is understanding these two as role models.

That’s right. Role models.

“Okay,” someone is wondering. “How can someone who denies and someone who doubts ever be considered examples to follow?”

It’s obvious. The passion each holds in his ministry is awe-inspiring, breathtaking, and incredible. We call the seven days leading up to the empty tomb Passion Week. These two lived convicted, passion-filled lives.

If we follow both saints through history, we see their well-recorded weak moments actually empower both to great ministries. The New Testament holds Peter’s two prized chapters. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome after boldly proclaiming his faith in Jesus and refusing to recant.

Unlike Peter’s chapters, the Gospel of Thomas is not canonized. (This means it is not in the Bible.) Nevertheless, Thomas traveled throughout many regions preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and healing those in need. Like Peter and the other apostles, Thomas faced many trials and endured harsh persecution by the hands of those opposed to the teachings of Jesus. Nevertheless, he, like Peter, continued spreading Christ’s gospel to the point of death. According to tradition, Thomas was murdered while preaching in Calamine, a city in India.

Stay with me. Doubt. Denial. Death. These are not three fun subjects, but I want to make a point that, even though we can get stuck in doubt or denial, we, like Peter and Thomas, don’t have to stay there. In fact, these rough patches in our faith garden actually do lead to truly fertile ground. Our seemingly bad experiences—our bad landings—actually do not have be landings at all. Instead, God is God. As the author of our lives, God does bring us through not scorched but stronger, not weaker but wonder-filled.

Let me turn to Paul who speaks great sense to this. The one who notoriously persecuted Christians as Saul writes in Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

This may seem like a now overused sentence to some, but I’ll share it because this bears repeating: “Don’t put a period where God has placed a comma.” We may have stops. Hagar hid. Esther paused. Jeremiah downplayed. In the dark for a three-day ride, Jonah smelled like fish food. David—oof—he had a few bad moments. But God did what God does: He moved them past their shortcomings. He moved them past themselves.

You may be strapped. You may be struggling. You may be suffering significantly. I mean like the all-out, whoa, this is WAY too hard suffering. Hear this as best as you can in the moment. Your story to date does not have to defeat you. It can define you.

Peter denied. This is a big deal. Thomas doubted. This is also a big deal. But, as I am sharing with my congregation, Easter is not a day. It is a season. Specifically, it is a life-long season. Jesus, who Paul calls the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), rose from His dark place, His time in hell. In knowing this and living by this, we can rise, too.