I ask questions. I ask a lot of questions, and it infuriates people and gets me in trouble. As a teacher, I have to answer a lot of questions because in education we say there are no stupid questions except the ones not asked. So, not only do I answer questions, but I continue to ask them. Asking questions keeps me educated and informed. So, this may make people angry, but I have questions that I want answers to, but I’ll settle for trying to understand why these questions make people angry.
First, many people desperately want to believe in something or someone higher than themselves, so they search everywhere. When they find it in science, politics, or religion, they take in all the information without asking any questions. Then, when people begin to ask them questions, they get angry because not only do they not have the answers, but they are frustrated that someone does not share their same belief, or that they have had those questions and others have become angry with them.
When we encounter people, who are frustrated when we ask questions, we must remember that they are the ones struggling with the issue, not us. It’s time to ask the right questions and ask how they are doing. It’s time we begin to ask the right questions to the right people, and begin to find answers to our questions and not just ask questions to make people angry.
Second, many people ask questions to prove their point. We need to ask questions to learn and understand other people and their beliefs, not just to prove ourselves right. If we need to prove what we belief is right, then we may need to reexamine what we believe and search for our own answers. The religious leaders asked Jesus questions to trap, him so they could prove that they were right and to justify their killing of Jesus. Jesus is smarter than our puny human brains and He knew what they were doing, so he would many times answer them with a question or he would make a statement, with or without words, that addressed the real issue of their questioning. Jesus could win any question situation because He has the answers. We just need to listen to Him and cast away the garbage that others have surrounded with His answers.
There are many areas of my Christian faith that I have questioned, so I have turned to the Bible, commentaries, the original Greek and Hebrew Bibles, and other study helps to answer my questions. I have also looked into those who believe differently than me and discovered what they believe and why they believe it. When we search for the answers, we will find some of them. For some of my questions, it will take a lifetime of searching, and it is worth it because each search for my answers leads to a discovery of something new that strengthens my faith in Jesus. There are some questions that may never get answered, but that doesn’t mean everything is wrong. It just means I may need to be asking other questions. When I stop asking questions, I begin to doubt because I am not growing and searching for answers.
The third reason why people get angry when we ask questions is because they don’t want to reveal that they are wrong or what they believe has holes or is incorrect. Nobody wants to look foolish in front of other people. When we ask questions on social media to prove people wrong and make them look foolish, it is exactly what we are doing. It’s not Christ-like and it’s not kind. I do know teachers that did not welcome questions from students. They do not want the students to know that there are things they don’t know, which is ridiculous because no one can know everything. It makes the students be more confident to ask more pressing questions when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and answer with honesty when we don’t know the answers, and when we don’t get angry when questions are asked.
May we all find the answers for which we are searching. May we never stop asking questions to the issues to which we really want answers. May we always ask people how they are doing and mean it because it is within asking questions that we discover the answer to how people are doing. It is within asking questions that we discover that we don’t have to know everything and we can have questions in our faith and still have a strong belief in Jesus and God’s Word. It is through asking questions that we can discover how to love those who believe and think differently than us because with the questions we will find the answers.
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