Click to hear the Morning Devotion — A questioning faith
You and I know, of course, that questions can sometimes make stronger statements than declarations.
You know what it’s like to hear a question that stops you in your tracks, not because the other person was seeking information but instead because the person was actually making a statement TO you.
Imagine a flustered spouse who is complaining about a series of small annoyances in the relationship that surface is most every marriage at one time or another. This gnawing on the other continues throughout the day because the distressed spouse is having struggles with health, with work, with friends, with bad hair or whatever.
Finally, the spouse being complained to — or even about — turns to the mate and asks, “How long have we been married?”
The question, of course, is not seeking information.
Instead, a declaration is being made about the depth of knowing and of commitment.
The fact is that rhetorical questions — those intended to make statements more than to solicit information — can be a powerfully effective tool for influence. Particularly in moments pregnant with tension.
Today’s reading in the One-Year Bible contains two rhetorical questions that Jesus posed not because He needed information but instead because He was making a statement.
Jesus’ second, two-part question in Mark 12:15 was in response to the leaders asking if the people should pay taxes to Caesar.
Declaring the question as a foul trap to turn the people or the government against Him, Jesus asked for a coin and then asked while holding it up, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”
You know what followed. The critics heard Jesus tell them, in effect, to pay their taxes to Caesar and their offerings to God. The leaders and the people were amazed at the powerful, yet utterly concise declaration made by means of simple questions.
I’m reminded of another rhetorical question that is among the most remembered questions in the Bible. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus asked the Christian-hating bounty hunter on the road to Damascus.
The man who would become the Apostle Paul was obsessed with destroying Christianity and everyone who embraced it. But his agenda was inferior to God’s and the power of Messiah overwhelmed him in a powerful, shining display of divine authority.
Though Saul was knocked to the ground and blinded by brightness, he was still cognizant enough to understand the statement made via Christ’s rhetorical question.
Saul — who became Paul — dropped the animosity toward Christ that was at the root of his persecution of believers.
Saul saw that his evil behavior had been rooted in prideful jealousy and insecurity. He later repented and dedicated his life to serving the Christ he had hated.
My hunch is that Saul might not have responded as he did if Jesus had knocked him to the ground with the blast of overpowering light and then started lambasting him with all sorts of accusations and threats because his hatred toward Christians.
Instead, it was the seven-word question that pierced his veil of pride and allowed the remnant of goodness still hidden in his heart to receive the truth and love of God.
Dear friend, remember the power of questions when your heart is being passionately stirred to declare something important and faithful to someone in your life. Rather than tearing into somebody tangled up in a rotten attitude or a sinful setting, think about the questions God would ask instead.
A question like “Where are you?” heard by Adam when he was hiding from God behind a bush will do far more to plow the heart’s soil than will the sledgehammers of “Sinner!” or “Selfish jerk!” or “I knew I couldn’t count on you!”
It is so much better when people hear the corrective lecture from their consciences via our questions than it is for them to pridefully tune us out as we “Blah, blah, blah…”
As always, I love you
Martin
