Missing Dialogue: The Necessity of Questions to the Christian Faith
Yesterday I took to Medium to flesh out some of my heart level frustrations and hopes for my soul and the soul of the church as whole. I want to continue to put some meat on the bones and toss my thoughts out to the ether to see if they bounce anywhere, so I’m going to try and write an article or two a week (no promises) to explore different areas where I think we can grow together as a body. I want to be measured and balanced here — my goal is not to rip the church or evangelical Christianity to shreds; at least not without reason, and certainly not without being constructive. We want to build upon the foundation that is Christ — sometimes that requires tearing down structures that have proven themselves harmful to the body, to the truth, and to the people Jesus loves and seeks to rescue.
Today I want to talk about the modern Christian’s aversion to questions. I grew up in the nineties where every ministry had an answer to every question. Apologetics was a booming business, and books and books were written to answer the questions and challenges of skeptics. Don’t get me wrong — I believe our faith has a lot of answers, and certainly the answer to the most important question; namely, “Who is Jesus?” I absolutely believe that the authority of scripture comes to bear upon the woes and fears and heartfelt needs of mankind; but I do not believe that questions, or, moreover, Christians being honest about having questions or wrestling with doubt, is a bad thing.
Where did this idea that the Bible holds the answer for every question that arises from the human experience. Broadly, I think, we can thank fundamentalism and the mentality that extends sola scriptura beyond its boundaries to solo scriptura, the idea that the Bible and the Bible alone contains the entirety of wisdom and knowledge necessary for the world’s every need. This is a fine idea, until you realize that the Bible never claims this about itself, meaning the argument itself is internally and hopelessly flawed. The person who uses 1 Peter 3:14–15 “But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (CSB) to defend this position does so at his own peril, as even a cursory understanding of what Peter is saying here is to be ready for persecution, and when asked why you hope for the resurrection of the dead, have the name of Jesus so buried deeply in your heart that it rolls off your lips.
I would argue that questions, more than answers, are what deepen our faith.
Do you remember when you were a child — or perhaps you have a child now — do you remember the question phase? That magical age between three and six year old when all you hear for hours at a time is “Dad, what’s that?” “Mommy, how does this work?” “Daddy, why is it like that?” Any answer you give to your child they will believe, and every answer you give spawns another question. This is how children grow mentally, and it’s how they deepen their relationship with their parents. The end result of a child asking questions isn’t just knowledge, it’s being acknowledged by a mommy or daddy who loves them and that they can trust. The same is true of our faith. Questions draw us into God, not away from Him. They help us define and understand His character. They show us the eternity that is within our hearts to ponder. They give us meaningful moments at the feet of our Master and an allowance of His time that we don’t get when we know it all, or when we think we do.
This also leads to a problem in many evangelical churches — the aversion to asking questions…in church. We’ve been conditioned well to the absolutist position of monological preaching and the authority of the singular preaching pastor that the very nature of Christ’s teachings have become lost on the church. Interruption, many fear, risks the usurping of the “man of God’s” position on a stage and threatens his control over the message. Can I venture to assert that Jesus not only allowed for interruptive questioning, and even more than welcomed it…he counted on it. Dialogue was a part of the midrash style of teaching where the commentary, lead out by the questions of the listening, and the conversation between teacher and student were expected, because the position of rabbi was to lead disciples down a journey toward truth. Whether it be the Twelve, the Pharisees, or some random young wealthy prince asking about eternal life, the journey toward the point of the lesson consisted of and was produced out of the fruit of crucial and critical questions. The current dynamic, though there is certainly a place for preaching (it is a gift of the Holy Spirit and ought to be utilized), I would contend it is not the norm we see in scripture, nor the healthiest or most effective form of teaching available for a local gathering.
I’ve come to realize how much of what we do in church is built out of a need to control. Control behavior, control settings, control outcomes, control perceptions, control…the Spirit. There’s something dangerous about when we let our guard down and just let God do His thing. What if the Lord speaks through questions? What if He would guide our congregations with raw and honest doubt? But that might expose us. We may have to admit that we just don’t know the answers to everything. We might have to admit that sometimes the things that happen in the world, or the things that God does or doesn’t do we just don’t quite understand. And that’s okay.
We should feel secure both to ask questions of our Father and to endure the questions borne out of a genuine desire to understand Him. The church needs to open itself to more conversation, to enquire as to why it is we believe what we do, to open time tested doctrine to deep personal scrutiny. That’s how we make our faith and our relationship with God our own — and without that, many of our members stand in peril of losing their faith for all the things we try to use to ensure it. Faith in the one who has the answers, whether or not He shares them with us, is what Christianity is all about.
