Read
Asking the Right Questions pt. 2
In the first part of this protracted blog post we explored the attitude behind the questions we ask God. I gave the example of Zechariah (in Luke 1) asking God how he and his wife should conceive a son given their old age. Zechariah’s question was motivated by doubt (God had spoken and fulfilled such promises in the past), which is an attitude that was starkly different to Mary’s attitude of faith. These examples show that we must allow faith to guide us in our questioning, but part one did not go into any detail about how to actually formulate our questions. It is my opinion that most of our questions can be broken down into either one of two categories. The first is questions of the form “How should I behave?” The second is questions of the form “How should I understand/conceptualize this?” We will look at an example of each of these styles of questions.
Fortunately for us, the Gospels are full of questions that people ask Jesus, and we are also given a detailed look into how Jesus responds to our questions. The first example I want to look at is from Luke 9:51-56.
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
Here we find an example of the Apostles asking Jesus a very practical question. The problem that the Apostles faced is one that we even still face today-- how are we supposed to react to those who reject us? Keep in mind that earlier in this chapter these very same people had had great success in spreading the good news of the Kingdom, but now they were being challenged in a new way that they had not experienced. It is clear that they had become so proud that they boldly asked Jesus a question thinking they already knew the answer. Of course Jesus rebukes them, but this incident sheds light on how we are supposed to formulate our questions. Some better questions would have been “Why are they rejecting You?” or “What is different between them and those that believed?” or “What is God’s plan for those who disbelieve” or even “What could we have done differently to help them believe?” You will find that the examples given do not presume an answer, but instead they earnestly seek to understand how we should react to rejection. An example of the Apostles asking such a good question can be found in Luke 11:1-4.
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation.’”
This is a good example of the Apostles recognizing that they were lacking understanding in one particular area, so they asked Jesus to give them further instruction. We can ascertain that this was a good question, because Jesus responded so positively to their request. This is very similar to how Mary was treated when she asked Gabriel for similar understanding. Their good question allowed a moment of instruction, which is just as beneficial for us today as it was for the Apostles all those years ago. It is sometimes easy to disparage the Apostles for the lack of understanding basic principles, but I think that any thorough reading of Scripture will cause us to ask similar questions. Some good questions we can ask are “What did Jesus mean He said this?” or “What other Scriptures speak about this topic?” or “What is the larger context of this passage and how does that inform my understanding of its meaning?” or “Why does the Bible say this?” All of these questions when asked in faith, open up the possibility to yield fruitful answers. That is why we cannot be afraid to ask questions.
To wrap up this topic, I would like to emphasize that it is always okay to ask the right questions. As a church we must be sure to foster an environment where godly curiosity is nurtured, and times of doubt are transformed into times of faith and encouragement. It is your individual responsibility to make sure you are asking good questions. You must always be willing to accept biblical answers, and you must never try to twist the Word to look for excuses. If you keep these principles in mind, you will go far when you ask God a question.
