Asking Questions

Proverbs 10:14
The wise store up knowledge…

One of the bazillion pictures I took today, trying to get my left eye to behave for a new profile picture.

“What’s wrong with your eye?” was a question I was asked quite a bit back when I was teaching. Kids ask questions adults would never DREAM of voicing, don’t they? Born with a lazy eye that two surgeries hadn’t completely corrected by that time, I was used to the questions and didn’t mind explaining. And once I’d explained what was wrong, the kid asking usually didn’t think anything of it again.

I much preferred the asking that led to an understanding of what was going on because then they knew which of my eyes was the one that was REALLY looking at them.  I liked that vs what usually happened – and what still happens – with adults who would never, EVER ask me such a question: the two of us stuck in an awkward dance while we’re visiting because my left eye is off doing its own thing.  They keep moving to the left to be in that eye’s line of sight and I keep following their steps, turning after them so the right eye, the eye my brain is actually using, is able to see them. I’ve turned in a complete circle because of this process while visiting with someone after church and they didn’t say a thing.  It used to bother me, but now I find it quite comical.

Why do adults stop asking questions? It seems like the older we get, the less we step out and ask the awkward questions.  Until, of course, we’re really old and don’t care about being embarrassed anymore.  Lol  But from about 13-60ish, we limit ourselves from asking questions that would give us a deeper understanding of something or someone. 

This seems to be the case especially within the church.  We the church, as a general rule, choose the path of politeness over the one of inquisition. “Don’t ask this. Don’t say anything about that. Don’t ever bring THAT up. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.” And for what reason?  Out of fear…of what someone will think of us?  Of offending someone?  Or fear of confrontation with someone?  I’ve always struggled with trying to appear to ‘have all the answers’ vs being willing to be the person who asks the awkward questions.  My husband is good at it though, sometimes asking away with little to no inhibition, and he’s learned a lot over the years as a result of taking this risk of ‘looking dumb.’  I’ll even admit to sometimes pretending to understand what people are talking about, nodding in agreement as they explain something, just so I don’t feel/look dumb.  Do you do this as well?  Do you only ask the ‘safe’ questions?  Or only ask ones that are expected or that don’t stir up any trouble?  Do you ever hold back from asking the questions you SHOULD be asking or WANT to ask?

Nicodemus wasn’t afraid. Ok, sure, he snuck away during the night to talk to Jesus so he could avoid his colleagues judging him or maybe making him wear a dunce cap for asking what they thought to be dumb questions.  But he still made a huge effort to go get some answers to his questions. He sought out Jesus and wasn’t afraid of looking dumb in front of Him; he wanted to better understand God’s plan and how Jesus fit into that.  He wanted to KNOW Scripture better.   Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council, so he would’ve known the Jewish laws (aka the Old Testament) quite well because he had to teach them and use them in his daily work. But his questions like “How can someone be born when they are old?” gave us the answers that include the most well-known verse of all time: John 3:16. If Nicodemus hadn’t asked those questions on that night, if he hadn’t been brave enough to go to Jesus and quench his thirst for understanding, John wouldn’t have been able to write about their interaction. And we wouldn’t be able to read about it today and have the understanding we do of why Jesus came to earth and had to do all that he did.

How can we be more like Nicodemus?  How can we continue being the inquisitive children we once were and keep asking questions that gain us a deeper understanding of the world and people around us? What if we were to keep asking the hard, embarrassing questions of our faith, our church, and our God?

       Maybe that’s what Jesus meant by having a “childlike faith.”  He meant for us to ask questions like children do, like Nicodemus did that night. – Tweet This!

Maybe He meant for us to keep chasing after knowledge and understanding.  To keep seeking and chasing after Him.  (“Seek and ye shall find…”  Matthew 7:7-8)  

What questions do you need to ask, with a childlike faith, to better understand something or to deepen your faith? Whether you think they’re dumb or embarrassing, ask them anyway. You may not gain complete understanding immediately, but I’m guessing the answers you receive will help you get there quicker than if you were to try to figure it all out yourself.  And who knows?  Maybe the answers you get will help many generations to come…

John 3 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus^[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again^[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[c] 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind^[e]blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you^[f] do not receive our testimony.¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^[g] 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^[h]

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world,^[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”