I suggested
last time that Rachel would do well to use a different word than doubt, and I
explained why. In this post I’d like to suggest a different way to express what
I think she is getting at. I would like to suggest that she talk about
raising questions.
So, someone
tells you that the Bible teaches (fill in the blank). But it doesn’t sound
quite right. So, what do you do? You raise questions. ‘Why do you think that’s
true? I’ve heard that there are others who disagree with you. Have you
considered what they have to say? Why do you think that are wrong?’
Raising
questions is good. We are not to blindly accept what others tell us. If what
they say is correct they should be able to show that to you. Here is an example
of this sort of thing. Paul and Silas enter town and tell the people there
about Jesus. Their audience is eager to hear what they have to say, but they
don’t just accept it. Note how Luke describes what they did.
Now these Jews were more noble than those in
Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17
In this they
have a basic question for Paul and Silas. Is what you say true according to the
Scriptures? It’s the right question. And Luke commends them for raising their
questions. (They were ‘more noble’.)
So, if Rachel
wants to encourage lots of questions about what to believe, I’m all for it. The
more questions the better.
However, it
needs to be said that someone raises questions in order to find some answers.
It was good for those people to challenge Paul and Silas and raise their
questions. And as Luke goes on to report, they found some answers. As a result,
they were persuaded to place their faith in Jesus.
And this is
where I have my concerns. There are some who are not looking for answers. They
would rather glory in their doubts. I don’t know that Rachel is among them, but
there are many who are like this. What if those people that Luke wrote about
did that? What if they simply stubbornly clung to their doubts? They would have
never put their faith in Jesus.
The point of
this is not to be able to brag that you have all the answers,
that all the questions are taken care of. Anyone who does that doesn’t
know very much. There are plenty of questions that aren’t answered - and won’t
be. Some answers will have to wait for an answer. No, the point of this is to
be able to live wisely. It’s just a fact that there is much foolish in our
world and the result of that foolishness is lives that aren’t working well.
Asking and finding answers to our questions is how we can gain wisdom to live
well, to live wisely. Didn’t those folk in Luke’s account take an important
step in the right direction by asking their questions and then getting answers
to those questions? Anyone unwilling to do that, both the asking and then
getting answers, will not live well - not in the way that Jesus defines that.
This will be
my last post on Rachel’s book. I have enjoyed getting to know her, even just a
little. I’d like to think that we’d both enjoy sitting down at some coffee shop
and talking about all sorts of things over a cup of coffee. While I doubt that
such a thing will happen in this life, I look forward to doing it after the
resurrection when we will both be able to rejoice in the wisdom and love of
Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment