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“Questions and Motivations”
Categories: M. W. Bassford, Meditations
We often don’t realize it, but one of the main themes of the gospels is the interaction between Jesus and people who ask Him questions. If we considered Jesus’ replies to those questions in isolation, His replies would seem so divergent as to be irrational. In Matthew 13:16, He calls one set of questioners blessed. In Matthew 13:7, He condemns another set as a bunch of hypocrites.
What gives? It’s just a question, right?
In reality, of course, Jesus’ answers are so different because He is responding to different motivations and positions. The disciples of Matthew 13 get a commendation and a straight answer because they are seeking truth. So does the woman at the well in John 4 (who is so deferential that she only hints at her questions).
Nicodemus, interested in the truth but full of himself, gets an answer but also gets taken down a peg in John 3. The lawyer of Luke 10:25, who thought to set himself up as Jesus’ schoolteacher, ended up getting schooled instead. Finally, of course, the parade of Pharisees with their trap questions uniformly found out that Jesus was smarter than they were.
Today, the motivations of questioners are every bit as diverse. Some still want to know truth. Others think they know it and hope to use their questions to lead you down the primrose path. Still others ask questions not because they want an answer, but because they believe the question won’t have an answer. They think this will embarrass you or perhaps justify their unbelief.
This is important for us to remember as we consider both others and ourselves. Though we can’t see hearts as Jesus could, it’s still possible to discern someone’s intent by considering their words. I’m perfectly willing to answer questions for hours if the questioner is hungry for the gospel. On the other hand, I’m not interested in patiently answering objection after objection, only to be met with a haughty “That’s not good enough!” One suspects that for some, an answer from the Lord Himself would not be good enough.
It’s important too, though, to be honest about our own motivations when we ask questions. Wanting to learn more about spiritual things is wonderful! I think the same is true of using questions to teach. When somebody figures out the answer for themselves rather than the teacher figuring it out for them, the lesson tends to stick longer.
However, we should be wary of questions that are designed to trap others or to justify a conclusion we already have reached. Jesus used the former tactic, but He only did it to embarrass hard-hearted religious elites who were trying to embarrass Him first. Unless we are sure that someone is acting in bad faith and needs to be humiliated for the benefit of third parties, it’s not wise and probably not godly to make them the target of our Perry Mason impression.
Similarly, it is better to own our convictions directly, whatever they may be, rather than hedging them around with disingenuous questions designed to make our conclusion seem reasonable. If there is no answer to a question that will satisfy us, we should save everyone time and not ask it. There is no value to the smugness that comes from winning a debate when we are the self-appointed judge.
Truth only can be found in God, and questions are the means by which we seek it. However, as with everything else, the devil is capable of twisting questions to his ends. May the questions we ask always serve truth and not him!
