Keep on Asking Good Questions

"Answers to the questions we ask are not the destination. Rather, questions are part of our journey of growth," writes entrepreneur and author Kevin Cullis in his link-up entry for the "Power of Good Questions" theme. Good questions help us simplify, and to find our place in the Body of Christ.

Most Christian parents ask their children when they come home from school, “What did you learn today?” Jewish parents, on the other hand, ask, “Did you ask a good question today?”

As believers, we’re not to act as drones, like The Borg, who were recurring alien antagonists in the "Star Trek" series. We’re to ask questions and actively engage our brains to learn and grow. We're then to do what is right, based on who we are and who we work with.

When I was stationed in Utah, I attended the Bible Church of Salt Lake, where Pastor Charles E.W. Clarke did expository preaching. He used Greek, Hebrew, history, and biblical categories to expound truths. He once took three years to go word-by-word through the book of Ephesians. Clarke showed the depth of what could be learned--and the richness and confidence that came with the knowledge gained.

For instance, in Matt 7:7, the Greek verbs ask, seek, and knock are all in the present tense, active voice, and imperative mood. The Greek says we’re commanded to continually “keep on asking/seeking/knocking.” But what are questions and answers?

Answers are Not the Destination

Answers to the questions we ask are not the destination. Rather, questions are part of our journey of growth.

When Jesus commands us to question, we’re to swap Satan’s lies with God’s truth. Once it is grounded in truth, our faith leads to bold behaviors and confidence in God’s purpose for our work and worship.

However, there is a difference between asking questions to seek the truth versus asking to create doubt. Satan asks the first question in the Bible, but his intention was, and still is, to sow doubt and fear.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

It is Satan who creates feelings of fear and a lack of conviction in what we believe. When we believe in the truth, it will set us free to live our lives fully for God in his chosen endeavors for us. Satan wants to takes us out, to be inoperative (or less operative) for God. And any disinformation which limits our involvement in doing good works for God is a coup for Satan.

2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (cowardice), but of power and love and discipline (sound judgement).

God's simplicity reveals truth; Satan's complexities hides lies.

Questions Help us Simplify

There is a sign at Apple that reads: “Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.” It refers to deciding what is important. As Steve Jobs told a crowd of design mavens, “The main thing in our design is that we have to make things intuitively obvious.”

God has already given you a strong hint of what you’re to do with your life and career. It comes down to these questions: what energizes you when you get up in the morning? What can’t you wait to get up and do all over again the next day? Is it a love of architecture? Art? Woodworking? Plumbing? Geology?

He designed you and I, with our unique talents, for one purpose: to serve. You and I honor God by employing our God-given talents to serve others. When we don't serve with our God-given talents, we dishonor what God has created in us.

Be confident with your talents--you may be the eye or arm in the Body of Christ. Be humble enough to know that you need to work alongside others who are ears and feet in the Body. Work together in the unity of faith, hope, and love for God’s purpose.

And keep on asking good questions.