I just got done writing a post on the blog about Jonathan Cain’s new I Am Second film. I mentioned something in that post that I want to drill down on a little bit. It’s about asking questions, specifically questions about your faith.
Let me just get this out of the way: It’s OK to ask God questions. It’s OK to have doubts. It’s OK to be confused and dig into why you believe what you believe.
See, I believe that if you are truly asking God questions about your faith, He will be found at the end of them. The scripture says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
I think a lot of times us Christians, though, have shrunk back from asking those questions. We think it’s blasphemous. We think it’s irreverent. We think it’s disrespectful. Here’s the truth: The Bible is filled with examples of people asking questions about their faith.
Why is that? Because I think when you ask someone questions you are forced to recognize that they have the answers.
The most famous example of this is the apostle Thomas. He needed proof when Jesus reappeared after his crucifixion. He asked questions. And in doing so he knew Jesus could provide answers.
But my favorite example is actually a dad in the Bible. He was asking Jesus to heal his son, and, in the process, he told Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
How many of us can say the same thing?
Recently, my 7-year-old daughter has started wrestling with her own faith questions. She wants to believe, but she struggles with one question in particular: “How can I trust what the Bible says about God if it was written by humans?”
Do you know what my wife and I haven’t done? We haven’t told her she shouldn’t ask that question. We haven’t told her to “just believe.” We haven’t shamed her or made her feel small for asking whatever she wants to ask.
In fact, we’ve done the opposite. We’ve told her that it is good and right to ask questions. Why? Because we know that when God meets her at the end of those questions her faith will be stronger, it will be bolder, it will be her own.
Friend, we need to encourage people to ask more questions, not less. And can I be honest with you? People are asking those questions anyway. I saw a post from Author Carey Nieuwhof recently that hit me hard.
“Unchurched people are asking spiritual questions,” he said. “They just don’t think the church can help.”
The Church needs to be the place where people can ask spiritual questions and not be shamed. The job of “saving” people isn’t up to us. It’s up to God. And I’m confident that if we encourage people to ask questions and seek the one who has the answers, it’s not going to harm their faith., iIt’s going to help.
So ask God your questions. Encourage others to ask God their questions. And then pray for the conviction and perseverance to accept the answers.