SHOULD CHRISTIANS ASK QUESTIONS?
16:22Until recently, I only used social media as a platform to share my thoughts and my work. These days, I have been more intentional about the 'social' in social media. A while back, I had a conversation with a friend that re-emphasized a lot of the things that I already believe in. I was raised in a Christian community and ideas were communicated both verbally and nonverbally. One of such was that God wasn't to be questioned. In fact, nothing in the whole of Christianity was to be questioned. As much as I feel like they were trying to uphold the authority of God and His word, what ended up happening was that they raised Christians who did not understand and could not defend what they believed. So, someone who has been in the church for say 6-7 years can barely hold conversations regarding their faith. Often releasing the most trusted reply of 'this is what I believe, I am in my house, come and beat me'. I consider it lazy and a degree of failure both on the part of pastors and Christians themselves. I believe that one of the greatest ways that God has revealed Himself to us is 'Father'. God is our Father and He is the good Father. Sometimes, because of our wrong ideas of who a Father should be and our terrible relationships with our earthly fathers, we superimpose wrong notions on God.
God is not your African dad. To an extent, the restriction of not being able to ask God questions stems from the authoritative position of the African dad. In most homes, the word of the father is final. There is no room for clarification or questioning. When your dad says a word, you respond, 'yes sir'. In fact, when any person in authority says a thing, you respond yes sir/ma. This is where we learned not to ever ask questions; to just go with things as they come. This is how we learned to just go with whatever the political leaders say but, I digress. God is not human. His ego isn’t hurt when we ask Him questions. He wants us to know and understand Him. That is why He gave us a library of books revealing Himself to us. The Bible gives insight into how He works, the things that He does and the kind of relationship that we should have with Him.
When Paul, a Jew, went to Gentile cities to preach, there was a method. He did not just drop the gospel at their feet and say ' if you like don't accept it, I've sha told you'. Over and over again, we see that it is said that he 'reasoned' with them. (Acts 17:2,17, Acts 18:4,19) Now, I have said that believers need to ask questions. However, there is a way that questions should be asked. There is a way to approach doubts.
But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels. 2Timothy 2:23
Paul, instructing Timothy, tells him to avoid foolish disputes. So, there are such things as foolish disputes. Their goal is to tear down, to scorn, to destroy.
However, in a true investigation, there is the heart and the desire to know. There is the disposition of humility. The approach to engaging non-believers may be slightly different. However, when a believer has questions, these are my suggestions:
- Pray about it. Our first instinct is often to do something. We think that if we’re not working our butts off then we aren’t doing enough. But, as I read somewhere the other day, if we believe in prayer as much as we claim to, we’d pray more. Prayer is a declaration of dependence on God. It is not as if God cannot do anything if we don’t pray but, in prayer, we invite Him to move. So, doubting Christian, pray. Even if what you’re doubting is prayer itself.
- Speak to your pastor. As often as we claim that Christianity is a personal race, we weren’t designed to do this thing all by ourselves. Your pastor is there to be a shepherd, a guide. They are there to serve you. The job of your pastor isn’t to just preach sermons on a Sunday, they are to minister to your personal spiritual needs. This is one of the reasons why it isn’t enough to just attend online services and not be accountable to anyone.
- Say you belong to a big church and it is practically impossible to get in touch with your pastor personally. Chances are that your church has measures in place for your growth, progress, discipleship. Talk to a leader or any other believer.
- Stay in community. This isn’t the time to take a break. There is often the temptation to want to take time away to get yourself together but, it can be a way of creating room for the doubts to grow. Now, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t allow room for processing and thinking through the things you are considering. Just remember that the enemy of your soul is looking out for you to be alone. It is just easier to strike you when you’re alone.
- Read the Bible. Just read it. It has the answers that you need. Yet, to find them, you need to look through the word humbly without preconceived notions. Read gently and with an open mind. There is, however, a way to properly interpret scriptures and that is another reason why you need to have a pastor, a good pastor.
There’s a lot to be said about asking questions as a believer. But in the end, what I want to do is encourage and strengthen your faith. I am not looking to tear it down. I desire that your roots deepen and that you know better. We may never understand fully all that there is to be known but, the things that can be understood, we can understand well.
1 comments
Blessed ma'am
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading. I love hearing your feedback. Questions, suggestions, send me a mail gift.kaydo@gmail.com