We Can’t Fear Questions

If you have the truth on your side, you don’t have to be afraid of questions. If you fear questions, people might wonder if you really have the truth on your side. If we want to successfully pass off our faith to the next generation, we can’t be afraid of their questions. If we are, we signal to them that our ideas are brittle, and that if you poke around too much they might break. Doing this gives the enemy a chance to sow seeds of doubt that can often become poisonously fruitful in people’s lives.

I have personally seen the importance of letting people ask questions. One of my favorite things about my job is teaching our high school’s junior/senior Bible class. Every other year we cover apologetics, which is a really fun class to teach. We go over what a worldview is, we explore what the Bible has to say about creation and evolution, LGBTQ+ ideology, gender roles in the church, home, and society, and a host of other important topics. But one of the most important parts of the class is a bonus question I put on a couple of the tests. “Ask any question you want and we will answer it in class. [1 point]” 

Not surprisingly, when you offer free bonus points for simply asking a question, you get a lot of questions. I then collect those questions and put them in a powerpoint, and during class time we will work through a handful of questions at a time. I’ll begin by putting the question up and giving the class time to respond, asking them how they would answer and in particular what the Bible has to say about the issue. Then I’ll give my two cents. 

Some of the questions I get are theological. “How do you know whether to interpret something in the Bible as literal or symbolic?” “Can someone say that they are a Christian, yet say that they can sin and do whatever they want as long as they ask God for forgiveness?” Some of them are practical. “How would you start a conversation with an atheist if they are going to shoot everything down?” “How do you know if the friends you have are a good influence on you biblically?” Some of them are quite personal – “How could I, if I can, help God to save my family?” “If you have a friend who comes to you privately and tells you that they’re gay, how should you respond?” While I seek to give thoughtful and helpful answers on the questions I get, part of my reason for doing this is simply to communicate that we’re not afraid of questions. 

On a different test this year I put another bonus question. “What has been the most helpful part of the class so far this year? [1 point]” I was hoping I would get answers like, “Your excellent handling of difficult, complex issues” or “The quality of the class notes you hand out.” But close to half of the class said that their favorite part was working through the questions, and several of them noted they especially appreciated hearing their classmate’s perspectives on some of these issues. What I learned was honestly not that surprising — one of the most impactful things for my students was answering questions and showing that the Bible could handle the challenges we threw at it.

 

The Need to Answer Questions

So why is answering questions such a big deal? Well, first off, the Bible itself instructs us to be ready to answer questions. Moses anticipated that the children of the Israelites would come with questions, “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?” (Deuteronomy 6:20). Notice the text doesn’t say if your son comes, but when. And notice the nature of this question. The son does not “What are the commands?” No, instead they ask “What is the meaning of these commands?” or, we could say, “Why do we have to do all of this?” Moses just assumes they were going to get the what of the commands. They want to know the why of the commands. 

The response Moses calls for here is instructive. “Then thou shalt say unto thy son, ‘You know, buddy, I’m not really sure. Let’s go find a Levite, I’m sure he could explain it to us.’” No! He tells the parents to be ready. “Then thou shalt say unto thy son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.’” (Deuteronomy 6:21-25)

Even during the Old Testament, God expected parents to be ready with answers to the children’s questions. Yet today the importance of this task is perhaps greater than ever before. The next generation of Christians is being flooded with information at a rate never before seen. They find themselves living in a world of half-truths, distortions, and at times outright lies. A false view of the world, of God, of themselves, and of the Bible is constantly hitting them from social media, entertainment, music, blogs, books, news, podcasts, and a million other directions. They find themselves at the mercy of a Google search algorithm that feeds them compelling but terrible answers to important questions. They need help, and we as parents, pastors, leaders, and teachers have to be ready to stand firmly and let them know that God’s Word is true, that it has the answers, and we are ready to answer any question they have. 

 

Why Do We Avoid Questions?

But are we really ready to do this? I’ve heard people who left Christianity say things like, “I had questions and nobody was willing to answer them.” Now, I’m not always going to assume that every time someone says, “No one was willing to answer my questions,” that they are always right about that. Sometimes people never ask questions out of fear, so that might not be a fair statement. But there probably are times when there is real fear to answer questions. Why is that? 

Well, questions are hard and messy. Someone might ask a question that we don’t know the answer to. After all, we’re not Google. We don’t have the answer to every question. So in some ways we might communicate, subtly or even directly, “Hey, why don’t you stop asking uncomfortable questions?”

But I think sometimes we avoid questions out of unbelief. If we’re honest, there are some questions we might just rather not answer because it’s uncomfortable or we’re not sure. We’re afraid to get to the bottom of our own questions, because what if when we dig all the way to the bottom, we find out what we have been believing isn’t true? If we’ve never settled our own doubts, how can we help others? Sometimes the reason we fear questions is because we aren’t so sure ourselves. 

Perhaps we don’t take the time to answer questions because they seem dumb to us. “God’s Word is clear. That’s heresy.” For some people that will work, but not for everyone. Some want to think through and reason through what the Bible has to say. And God doesn’t run from that. There is a lot of reasoning throughout the pages of Scripture. Those who humbly come with sincere questions don’t get run off or find themselves handed glib answers. If God is willing to take time to reason with people and answer their questions, we should as well. 

Yet at the same time, some questions don’t have answers, at least not the fully fleshed out answers we would like. God does not see fit to answer every question we have. Job asked God what was going on, and God never told him. We get to the end of Job, and rather than read God say something like, “Well, I was defending your integrity and my honor against a Satanic attack,” God instead challenges Job to trust Him. During His earthly ministry, Jesus preached on the importance of eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6), which must have sounded very strange before the Last Supper. People stop following Him and so Jesus turns to His disciples and asks if they will leave Him. I love Peter’s response, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Peter didn’t even pretend he knew what Jesus meant. But He knew that He could trust Jesus. 

No matter the reason, we need to answer questions. It’s fine to at times admit, “I’m not sure about that. Let me look into it and get back to you.” If we have lingering doubts, we need to do the hard work of praying and studying and settling doubts in our minds so that the enemy can’t use them to sow doubts in the minds of others. If we can’t imagine why someone would be bothered by this particular question, we might need to humble ourselves so that we can help them work through a genuine concern. And we have to be willing to at times admit, “God hasn’t answered that question as fully as we might like, but we know we can trust Him, and here’s why.” 

 

How Do We Invite Questions?

So how do we position ourselves so that people are willing to come to us and ask questions? After all, if we want to show our confidence that the Bible has the answers, we should welcome questions. How do we make that posture clear?

 

• Build a Relationship

“Isn’t it unloving for God to send nice grandmas to hell?” is a frightening question to ask. “I saw online that someone said the Bible has been changed thousands of times when it was copied. Are we sure we still have the Bible?” The person asking such a question is half-afraid they will be met with “Great question, heretic!” Asking hard questions is, well, sometimes it’s hard. When people fear asking questions, they will likely only ask questions to people they trust. And they will likely only trust people they know. I taught apologetics for 3 quarters this year, and I think I got more questions in the third quarter than the first two combined. Why? I had spent enough time with the students to get to know them, and for them to get to know me. 

Parents, make sure you have your children’s heart. You know you love your child, make sure they know it and never doubt it. There’s a reason that Solomon pleaded, “My son, give your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26) He knew it was not a guarantee, but that he wouldn’t really make progress in training his son if he didn’t have his heart. Teachers and pastors make sure that you are investing in those under your care. Ministry is not simply transactional; it’s relational. Show a genuine interest in those under your care, and when they start having questions they’ll know where to turn. It’s a tired cliche in some ways, but it’s still true–“They don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

 

• Invite Questions

So how do we let people know that we are willing for them to ask us questions? Well, one way is to simply say, “You are free to ask questions.” As I mentioned, I did this outright in my apologetics class. In fact I have told my students they are never allowed to say, “No one was willing to answer my questions.” Parents, reiterate often to your kids that you are available if they have questions. It can be easy to get frustrated with questions, especially when you have lower elementary and toddlers who are constantly asking questions. Be careful how often you tell them to stop asking questions. They might just do it. 

Pastors, consider doing an “Ask the Pastor” if you don’t already where people can submit questions. If you are meeting with someone for discipleship, always pause and ask if they are following, and give them a chance to ask any question they might have. Teachers, let your students know you are always available if a student wants to talk. We all need to do whatever we can to create a culture where it’s clear that questions are welcomed, even celebrated. 

 

• Take Questions Seriously

“What would you say if someone was struggling with feelings for someone of the same gender?” 

“Ha! I’d tell them to get their head screwed on straight before they end up in hell.” 

If that question wasn’t a hypothetical, giving an answer like that will not only lose you the opportunity to help someone who is really struggling, but you probably won’t be getting any more questions. I’m not saying we should pander and tell people what they want to hear or that we should hold back from telling the whole truth of God. But I am saying that when we get questions, we shouldn’t lightly brush them off. A casual-seeming inquiry could be the tipping point for someone who has a secret war brewing inside of them. We should take all questions seriously, and respond with serious answers from God’s Word. Anything less and we might find ourselves being asked to answer fewer and fewer questions. 

 

We face a real enemy who thrives on fear, doubt, and confusion, but he is totally unable to stand up to the power of God’s Word. Not surprisingly, then, one of his main tactics is to undermine what God has said. “Did God really say?” was the first question he ever asked, and it’s an insidious question he continues to whisper in the hearts of those who want to follow God. We have to be ready to help clear up confusion and answer questions. Never forget that Satan is a liar but God is truth. And if we have the truth on our side, we don’t need to fear questions.

 

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Ben Hicks is Associate Pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis. You can check out Bible studies he has written as hearanddo.org.