Jesus often answered a question with a question. When asked about paying taxes, He took a coin and said, ‘“Whose image and name are on the coin?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said to them, ”Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said’ (Mark 12:16-17 NCV). We’re often afraid of asking questions, and afraid of answering them. But God would much rather receive a genuine question from a place of humility than a meaningless prayer spoken from a place of pride. We have to keep it real with God, and with one another. If we aren’t talking about real problems people are facing, we’re going to lose our prophetic voice. When people ask us, ‘Who is God? Who am I? What is the true purpose of my life?’ they won’t be satisfied with easy answers or clichés we’ve picked up along the way. God isn’t intimidated by those questions. He loves them. Like the parent of a curious toddler, God occasionally laughs at our questions. But He always welcomes them. The church ought to be a safe place where people can ask dangerous questions. But all too often we’re guilty of answering questions no one is even asking. We ought to be challenging the status quo, but all too often we’re guilty of defending it. But what if? What if we stopped force-feeding answers and learned to unleash the primal curiosity in our churches? It’s our curiosity regarding God that fuels an insatiable desire to know Him. So, let’s keep asking questions, and encourage others to do the same.
