Questions about questions. Curious?

Is it true that a person gives his true self away in the questions he asks?

Did you ever notice that Jesus loved to slip sacred questions into ordinary conversations?

Why did he enjoy and employ so many curious questions?

Was his goal to simply unsettle the settled status-quo or to re-root us into his liberating reality?

     What exactly is a question?

Is it a child-like quest that seeks and searches playfully for a reply?

Why do children love questions, live with questions and bounce like a ball through life by questions?

Why did Jesus ask “Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying?” (Matthew 6:27)

Why didn’t he just give a solid statement like “Worry is a waste of time and it can’t prolong your life so STOP!”?

Why do statements seem to bounce off of our bullet-proof hearts while questions seem to slide and soak in, like soft butter oozing into hot bread?

Why did Satan ask Eve “Did God really say you must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)

Did that question slither into Eve because of its oily deceptiveness?

Why did Jesus ask two blind men “Do you think I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28) before he switched on their sight?

Do you think his question was aimed to help them to say what they saw—to help them to see his strength more than their sightlessness?

     Why is it so easy to ignore and refuse a true fact aimed directly at us?

Why do we tighten up and experience a temporary incapacitation after being tased with a truth?

After a good question skips into our situation-- like a flat rock skipping on the surface of a lake-- why do we feel free and released as it finally sinks into us and rests on the floor of our heart?

Why does a great question offer a warm invitation to throw open all the windows and locked doors of your soul to allow the fresh air in?

Why does a question have the Ninja-like ability to sneak over, under, around and even through our defensive mind-armor?

Why did Jesus ask his Father-- as he hung on the cross, in searing pain for sinners who abandoned him--,  “Why have you abandoned me?”

Was this question by the sinless Christ out of the question?

Does God conquer or sponsor death as we consider the cross?

     Why did God ask Adam and not Eve “Where are you?” after they both sinned?

Why didn’t God give immediate justice to both of them and instead gave Adam this undeserved question?

Since God knows everything, when he asked Adam “Where are you?” was God really needing more information?

Did God ask Adam about his whereabouts to gracefully assist Adam to assess and address his spiritual location and situation?

After Adam answered God with a statement of fear and nakedness and hiding, why did God reply back with another question: “Who told you that you were naked?” instead of a quick verdict of condemnation?

Was God kindly helping Adam to assess and admit the self-focused sources of authority Adam was trusting instead of God?

Why did God ask the final question, “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

Was God trying to make Adam guilty?

After Adam transferred blame onto the woman, and the woman transferred blame onto Satan, why did God transfer blame onto innocent animals and clothe our first parent’s shame in innocent skins of grace?

Does our current culture even admit that guilt is real?

Doesn’t our current culture teach that guilt is unreal and should be ignored and replaced with self-love?

     Has the church been salted and lit by the statements of the world?

What if you asked a person who would deny the reality of guilt “Do you believe in forgiveness?” before you blasted them with a statement like “You are guilty and a sinner!”?

Wouldn’t that person most likely admit that they believed in forgiveness?

Don’t we all have a primal belief in forgiveness or at least hope that it might be true?

Wouldn’t it be better to ask a person “Do you believe in guilt?” only after you asked them “Do you believe in forgiveness?”

Since imitation just might be the highest form of worship, what if Christ-followers asked more questions, imitating Christ’s style of life, and gave less conclusions?

What if the next time you experienced a yuck-producing disagreement with a lover, friend, son, daughter, or boss you became more curious about why they disagreed instead of shooting statements at them?

Why did Jesus say “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die, Do you believe this?” (John 11:27)

Do you believe this?

Pastor Howard
Senior Pastor
Metro North Church