Ask Questions

If you’ve spent any time reading the accounts of the life of Jesus in the New Testament, you probably noticed that Jesus asked a lot of questions. His practice was to ask questions. When people questioned him, he questioned them in return. When someone tried to challenge him, he responded with a question. Jesus didn’t ask questions because he didn’t understand. He understood everything. He knew what people were thinking before they opened their mouth. He asked questions to get other people thinking. Jesus asked the “rich young ruler,” “why do you call me good?” He asked the woman, the religious leaders dragged before him, “where are your accusers?” When he sensed that “power had gone out from Him,” He asked those around him, but to no one in particular, “Who touched me?” When people were abandoning him and the disciples challenged him, he asked them, “do you want to leave also?” Asking questions is an art. Questions say to the other person, “What you have to say is important” and “I don’t know everything” and “I can learn from you.” When a person asks questions and listens, they are telling the other person you are important and valuable. James Thurber correctly states, “It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.” When Jesus’ brother James wrote, “Be quick to listen, and slow to speak” he could have just as easily written, “Be quick to ask, and slow to answer.” Too often we’d rather hear our own voice, give our opinions, and make our point than ask questions and listen. We’d rather be heard than hear. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT) One of the best ways to “take an interest in others” is to ask questions and listen. Could it be you and I can learn from others? Is it possible that asking questions and listening is the way forward in our fractured world? Could asking questions and listening to those we don’t agree with or find appealing is the key to building bridges between divided people and groups? “The person who asks is a fool for five minutes, but the person who does not ask remains a fool forever.” Unknown