Question the Answers
In the New Year 2021, I challenge you to ask more questions AND to question more answers. 2020 taught us that smart people can fail. We trusted our government, our churches, and our educational institutions. All of them missed what may be the biggest story of our lifetime. No one saw it coming.
What will happen in the year ahead? Someone said that instead of making wild predictions about the death of Hollywood stars, and asteroids crashing into downtown Seattle, maybe we should be asking more questions about what people really need: How do you define a better society, and why do people think that doing wrong is right?
Jesus asked questions similar to these when He was on earth. In fact, the Gospels record over 300 questions that Jesus asked people. If a wise man like Jesus knew the power of asking questions, why have we not asked more? Finally, a good question!
On January 19, 1988, there was an interview with Isidor I. Rabi in the New York Times. Rabi is an international scholar who has earned the Nobel laureate in physics. When he was asked why he became a scientist, he said, “My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: ‘So? Did you learn anything today?’ But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. ‘Izzy,’ she would say, ‘did you ask a good question today?’ That difference – asking good questions – made me become a scientist!”
Perhaps you remember the story of 12 year old Jesus visiting Jerusalem with his family in Luke 2. After they left town, they discovered that Jesus was not with them. Verse 46 records, “After three days they found [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.”
And Jesus knew how to ask penetrating questions. Some of his questions angered the religious and confounded the wise. To brash Peter, Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” To a sick man He asked, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6) To the narcissistic ruler Jesus asked, “Why do you call me good?" (Luke 18:19).
In 2021, ask more questions and question more answers. Challenge the corrupt belief system that is entrenched in our society. Ask your pastors what they believe about Salvation, healing, miracles, with accompanying Biblical support. Ask your government representatives to detail the core values that drive their decision-making. Ask your educational leaders to explain their concept of teaching your children and if their materials will be slanted in a given direction.
Speak up, my friend. Do not just blindly accept whatever is served to you. Question. Probe.
As the old Russian proverb says: “Trust but verify.”