Whether you’re a person of Faith or not, the Bible is full of stories that reveal insights into leadership and personal growth, as well as effective storytelling, communication, and team building. The 66 books that comprise this collective narrative also introduce us to unique individuals whose tragedies, triumphs, and personal stories provide an opportunity to learn from their successes and failures.
One of those characters is Thomas.
Thomas, also known as Didymus, was one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus. Not much is known of him, but most of what we know comes from the Gospel of John. By nature, he appears to be more of a logical, analytical individual who seeks proof through validation.
Thomas is perhaps best known as “the doubting disciple,” as evidenced by his refusal to accept the word of his fellow disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. He had been present to hear Jesus’ transformational teachings. He had been a witness to Jesus’ miracles, as well as his rebuke and challenge of the religious elite of the day.
Thomas had been a witness to the arrest, torture, and death of Jesus. The Gospel of John records that Jesus appeared after His resurrection to his disciples, but Thomas wasn’t present. When the disciples shared the good news with Thomas, his now infamous response has led many over the centuries to refer to him as Doubting Thomas:
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20: 25 NIV)
The Bible records that one week later, Jesus appeared again to his disciples, and this time Thomas was present. The Gospel of John notes that Jesus goes directly to Thomas, offering him tangible evidence that He had indeed risen from the dead:
“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20: 27 NIV)
In essence, “Here’s your proof, Thomas. Believe.”
According to Christian traditions, Thomas traveled eastward after the Pentecost experience of Acts 2 to “go, teach, make disciples.” He traveled as far as India, taking the Gospel farther than any other of the original 12 disciples, transforming a country in the process. Visit the country of India, and you’ll find many churches named after the disciple. Thomas also remains widely used both as a given first name and a surname, in reverence of the Saint.
History notes that he was martyred for his faith in 72 AD.
What changed? How did Thomas go from being the “doubting disciple” to becoming a bold evangelizer who transformed an entire country?
He believed.
In any transformative journey, there is a moment of clarity. Some call it a divine spark of inspiration. It’s the moment you realize that you truly believe. You believe in yourself, in something, or in someone. You believe in your goal, your mission, the journey you are taking, and that it is truly worth the time, energy, and effort.
In my book, Black Belt Leadership 101, I note that this moment of belief is a prerequisite for success, as “you cannot achieve what you do not believe.”
Within the story of Thomas, we uncover a masterclass in Belief, the transformational journey from borrowed certainty to unshakable, personal conviction. True leadership, in any capacity, requires moving beyond a second-hand faith, borrowed from someone else, to a deeply rooted, bulletproof personal belief and conviction.
When we examine this developmental journey, we identify three specific stages of belief: the stage of innocence, the stage of deconstruction, and the stage of ownership. Let’s break these down and discover the lessons we can glean from this and apply them to our lives.
The initial stage, innocence, is the stage of blind belief. At this stage, beliefs are accepted as a “given.” What we learned from our parents, culture, and traditions in the early, formative years of our lives becomes the basis for our “borrowed belief.” We simply accept what we’ve been taught as “truth” at face value, and that becomes the foundation for our morals, worldview, and sense of belonging.
In the Biblical narrative, Thomas initially followed the crowd. He believed, but only because he saw the miracles firsthand, along with the other disciples. As we read about his early life, we see that Thomas constantly wanted proof. He, like many of his era, was steeped in religious tradition and expected people to think and act in a certain way. When someone came along who challenged this norm, it was to be questioned or rejected.
Like many of us, when our status quo existence and beliefs are challenged, we demand validation, or we won’t accept it.
Prove it. Show me. I want to see it with my own two eyes.
This is a leadership trap. When we’re asked to “blindly believe,” to accept a goal, a corporate vision, or even our own potential, simply because someone else told us, our internal hard-wiring wants to reject this as untrue. Why? Because our brain, by default, wants to amplify what we have been taught to believe and reject anything to the contrary.
The second stage is disbelief, a deconstruction of our innocence. It’s in this phase of the transformational belief journey that we begin to question what we’ve been taught, the truths we’ve received, and the morals and values that govern our lives. This could be triggered by a new experience, a trauma, or a realization that the world, as we thought we knew it, is more complex than we initially thought.
In the deconstruction phase, we start to critically examine our long-held assumptions and beliefs about the world around us. Much of what we inherited from our family and early influencers is questioned, challenged, and sometimes threatened. We begin to think, independently, critically, for ourselves, or as Andy Stanley aptly puts it, “To think for a change.”
In the Thomas narrative, this is the crucible of the senses. When the other disciples claimed to see the resurrected Jesus, Thomas famously rebelled. He demanded evidence, physical proof, of their assertion. “Unless I see the nail marks…I will not believe.”
Prove it. Show me. I want to see it with my own two eyes.
This is an awakening. In leadership, challenging the status quo is the necessary crucible of awareness where we stop letting others think for us and we start thinking for ourselves. This is the process of self-validation as we challenge what we’ve been taught to believe and seek the evidence to either confirm it, adapt it, or reject it altogether.
This is where we learn to let go of limiting beliefs, often passed down generationally, that hold us back from a belief in what is truly possible as we step into our full potential. As we start to deconstruct our belief system, like Thomas, we no longer live our lives solely on the borrowed beliefs or experiences of others. As we start to think for a change, what we think starts to change as well.
As Carly Fiorini says in her book, “Find Your Way. “
“The status quo has great power, but leaders challenge the status quo to change things for the better.”
In the third stage of belief, we move into ownership. This is where our belief system is rebuilt, renewed, and restored. It is truly ours, and we own it. We move past the questioning and challenging of borrowed beliefs and begin to define, refine, and embrace our own core values and beliefs. We can do this confidently, as we’ve been through the crucible of the senses.
The limiting beliefs that once held us back, like the impurities that rise to the surface of a molten metal, are skimmed from our thinking. Our values and beliefs have withstood the flames of deliberation, and what remains is truly ours and ours alone.
At this stage, belief is no longer fragile. It’s survived rigorous questioning and validation. Having gone through this experience, we emerge more confident, more determined, and more committed to what we believe to be true. We know what we believe, and we know why we believe it.
We become people of conviction.
In the Biblical narrative, it is important to note that Jesus didn’t condemn Thomas. When he appeared to his disciples a second time, he went directly to Thomas, meeting him exactly where his doubt was. Once Thomas saw with his eyes and felt the wounds with his fingers, Thomas’ confirmed belief became his conviction.
When Jesus told him to stop doubting and believe, Thomas’ profession put all doubt and disbelief to rest:
“My Lord and my God.” (John 20: 28 NIV)
Thomas emerged with an unwavering, experiential confidence that would never be shaken again. Why? It was a personal revelation that validated his belief. He knew what he believed, and why he believed it. So much so, he dedicated the rest of his life to evangelizing others, transforming the nation of India as a result.
For a Black Belt Leader, this transformational moment is when a leader stops hoping they are capable and knows they are capable. They know what they believe, and why they believe it. They own it. It’s theirs. From this point forward, they are unstoppable.
Mark Twain said it well, “The two most famous days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why.”
So, why is an unwavering belief mission-critical for anyone to achieve great things?
To achieve anything of substance, a Black Belt Leader must transition from borrowed belief to owned belief. They must know what they believe, and why they believe it. From there, a leader must then convert this renewed belief into radical, positive, transformative action.
A belief that is worth believing demands that we act accordingly. After all, you cannot achieve what you do not believe; therefore, belief is a prerequisite for achievement.
Don’t forget that the brain dictates the boundary of action. It acts as a filtering mechanism. If we tell ourselves all the reasons we can’t, the brain amplifies that. At the same time, it rejects any thoughts that are contrary to that. In the book “Think and Grow Rich,” Napoleon Hill famously points out that the beliefs that control our dominant thoughts shape our reality.
Our belief system resides in our subconscious, and this governs our thinking. Limited thinking, disbelief, or doubt actively suppresses our creative problem-solving ability and our willingness to take the risks necessary to succeed. We can’t execute any strategy that our minds have already rejected.
Henry Ford perhaps said it best, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”
My mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, says that everything worthwhile is uphill. Anytime we pursue a worthwhile goal, we’re going to experience challenges and obstacles. How we respond depends on what stage of the belief journey we are in.
If we’re in stage one, blind belief will often fold at the first sign of friction. When we are in the echo chamber of borrowed belief, we don’t have the fortitude to stand up for what we believe. As we shift into stage two and begin to deconstruct our beliefs, we are now beginning to question what we believe and why.
We now realize that the obstacles in our way are opportunities to test what we believe, and why we believe it. This is how we learn, grow, and transition to stage three, where our belief is renewed. Remember, leadership is about leading others, and we can’t lead with confidence if we lack a belief in ourselves, our calling, the mission, and our potential. Confidence is a byproduct of a renewed, refined belief, and it is contagious.
Let me leave you with this.
I’ve been challenging people for decades to discover, develop, and deploy their own unique Black Belt Leader Within. This is the purpose for which you’ve been put on this earth. It’s the mission you’ve been chosen for, the calling for which you’ve been uniquely created.
As you go through the development process, questions and doubts may arise. This is normal. It’s the transformational journey of belief. You’re challenging the status quo, replacing thoughts that aren’t serving you well with thoughts that do. You’re overcoming limiting beliefs and going through a validation process of confirming (and affirming) what you believe, and why you believe it.
This is you struggling with the enormity of the calling that’s been placed in your life. This is preparation. This is maturation. Because what comes next is deployment.
This is when you declare to the world, this is who I am, this is what I’ve been called to do, and this is the transformational difference I will bring about. This can only happen when, like Thomas, you have an unwavering belief in yourself, an unrelenting conviction that THIS is what you have been called to do.
This is your Rubicon.
Nearly 2,000 years later, most people still refer to Thomas as “Doubting Thomas.” But do you realize he only doubted for a week? Between the time he was first told of Jesus’ resurrection until he met him face to face, only seven days had lapsed. Yet we remember him for a week of doubting rather than decades of transformational world change.
After he had his transformational encounter with Jesus, he never said, “Show me again.”
So, if you’re struggling with self-doubt, remember that true confidence is forged in the crucible of life. Like Thomas, you must move past borrowed belief to find and validate your own truth. Why? Because at the highest level of execution, your achievement will always be capped by your conviction.
After all, you cannot achieve what you do not believe.
