Once a month, you’re going to hear from our authors, from our team, or from a guest on how we study the Bible, what resources we use, and what questions we ask.
“But why?”
The question-askers in my home are still pretty small, but even as three-year-olds they can ask for answers that are too heavy for me to hold.
“Why do people die?”
“Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?”
“How is Jesus God?”
You may not have little question-askers at home, but I’m sure you’ve asked or been asked these questions at some point in life. So, what do we do with them? Is it okay to have questions, even when we’ve been walking with Jesus for some time?
Like a parent who loves to answer her child’s question, “Will you always love me?” with a resounding yes rather than a harsh, “Why would you even ask that? You know I love you,” God welcomes our questions. Although we may not always have a clear answer, His character isn’t on trial when we ask.
Asking questions is not:
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- An example of unfaithfulness
As Christians, we believe some crazy things. Wrestling with the truths of our faith does not make you an enemy of God, a bad Christian, or an unbeliever. God tells us to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), and this is an invitation to ask questions. The pattern of Scripture reveals that God wants us to know Him, and when you get to know someone, you often do so by asking questions. - A “slap in the face” to God
God has knit curiosity within us. God’s character will not change and will not fail us. He is the answer. He is the Creator of all things and He knows how all the pieces work and fit together. Our inability to know all He knows is simply a reminder that He is God and we are not (Isaiah 55:8-9). - Useless
Questions often result in growth and learning. As a kid in science class, you ask questions and make hypotheses. Then you test those hypotheses, asking questions of the results. Often, this is also true in our spiritual lives as we seek to better know the God we follow and His Word. Questions for the sake of questions may be unhelpful, but questions for the sake of discovering what God says is true are always valuable. The grounding of our questioning must be in the truth revealed in God’s Word. It will not return void (Isaiah 55:11) and will produce fruit in our lives.
- An example of unfaithfulness
What is the value of questions?
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- Questions help us clarify what we believe and why.
One of my favorite study habits as I read Scripture is to write down as many questions as I can about the passage I am reading. Then, I seek to find answers to them. As we ask questions of God’s Word or of situations we see play out in the world, we may better understand the truths of Scripture and why we believe them. Often, if we’ve grown up in church we may feel that we’ve inherited our faith rather than owned it, and questions are a way that we may discover what God says is true and why we should trust Him. - Questions strengthen our faith.
As I’ve asked questions throughout life, I’ve learned more and more that our faith is not blind. God has gifted us His Word to reveal some of the hardest to grasp truths to us and has even given the Word made flesh, Jesus. Although we haven’t seen Him with our own eyes, we stand on the shoulders of eyewitnesses who did, able to read accounts of His teaching and His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. - Questions help us wrestle intellectually with what we believe in faith in our hearts.
Particular moments like tragedy may cause us to question what we have believed in faith. These are not moments to fear or to hide, but to seek wise counsel, to submerge ourselves f in Scripture, and to explore quality resources that might help answer those questions.
- Questions help us clarify what we believe and why.
If you are answering questions for others…
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- Always tell the truth to the best of your ability.
Even kids can understand far more than we give them credit for understanding. Sometimes the truth is hard, but it’s worth the follow-up conversations and the wrestling to tell the truth. - It’s okay to say you don’t know.
There are lots of mysteries in the Bible or paradoxes that my mind can’t fully wrap around, and that is okay. The walk of the Christian is one that is comfortable with tension. There may be unanswerable questions, but let’s discuss why they are unanswerable. If you don’t know an answer, commit to helping the asker find someone who does know. - Never stop asking questions yourself.
You’ll never “arrive” in your Christian life, at least not during your lifetime. Ask questions, read books, and deeply study Scripture. You can always be learning more about God and His Word, but you’ll never plumb the depths of all there is to know. This is thrilling for me! Our God, who is Creator and Sustainer, wants us to know Him and has revealed Himself to us through His Word and through Jesus! He is good, and He invites our questions.
- Always tell the truth to the best of your ability.
If you are a parent, here are some helpful resources to help you with your little question-askers: http://marycwiley.com/resources
Mary Wiley lives with her husband John and their two preschoolers, and they attend and serve at Fairview Church in Lebanon, TN. She works as the women’s book marketing strategist for B&H Publishing Group and loves all the stereotypical publishing things: words, books, paper, and coffee. She hosts the Questions Kids Ask podcast, helping parents understand how to answer their kids’ tough theological questions. She also has an upcoming resource centered on understanding the essential truths of our faith and how they apply to our everyday lives called Everyday Theology (Feb 2020). Connect with Mary at www.marycwiley.com or @marycwiley on social media.
