The Man Who Was Not Born Series

An old preacher from the back woods was teaching a class of children

about how God created man. He said, "In the beginning there was just nothin

at all. One day God was fooling around with some mud, and before you knew

it he had a man. He put that man up against a fence to dry there in the sun.

God liked that man, but he looked kind of lonesome standing there all alone,

so..."Just then a hand went up in the front and a little voice said, "If, as you

say, there just wasn't nothin at all at the beginning, where'd that there fence

come from?" The preacher paused for a moment and then exploded, "Its

them kind of questions that's ruinin religion!"

So often men are careless in their understanding of God's Word. Or else

they read their own ideas into it and then think the truth of the Bible is

endangered because they are confronted with an unanswerable question.

Questions can endanger man's subjective interpretation, but God's Word is

never threatened by questions. All believers who have any contact at all with

the world will have to face up to difficult questions sooner or later. Many

Christians fear to face these questions, not because there are no answers, but

because they do not know the answer. Lack of confidence causes the Christian

to fail as a witness. He knows if he opens his mouth he will get questions fired

at him that he cannot answer, and so he clams up and defends the idea of a

silent witness. The silent witness is inadequate in itself, for it only calls

attention to your self. It is only by word of mouth that you can bring Christ

into the picture, and without Him your witness will only impress others with

what a good person you are.

We need to realize that questions are often an open door to a great

opportunity for witnessing. We read in I Kings 10:1 that the Queen of Sheba

came to test Solomon with hard questions, and he amazed her, for he had the

wisdom to answer them all. We are not Solomon, but we have access to the

wisdom of Solomon, and we can seek the guidance of the same God who gave

him his wisdom. As Christians we ought to take full advantage of people's

questions. Youth and adults alike are questioning everything, and all that

many Christians are doing is lamenting the fact when they should be searching

for answers to these questions.

The question is one of the greatest factors there is in teaching and

learning. In the only reference we have to the boyhood of Jesus we find Him

in the temple asking questions of the scholars of His day. Jesus saw the value

of asking questions, and all through His ministry He was a master at asking

and answering questions. Parents so often fail to take seriously the questions

of their children. Many are like the father in Alice in Wonderland who said,

I have answered three questions, and that is enough,

Said his father; don't give yourself airs.

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

Be off or I'll knock you downstairs!

This sounds more like Malice In Blunderland. Parents tend to go to one

extreme or the other. They are either indifferent, or they are over zealous and

elaborate on a subject beyond what the question was aimed at discovering.

Both are illustrated by the boy who came to his father as he was reading the

evening paper. He said he wanted to ask a question. The father did not care

to be disturbed and said, "Why don't you ask your mother?" "Never mind,"

said the boy, "I don't want to know that much about it." Both in society and

in our families we fail to make effective use of the question as a means of

extending the kingdom of God. It is time that we wake up to the great

possibilities for evangelism that are made possible through the questions that

people have. We need to stimulate people to ask significant questions, and

then be prepared to give an answer from God's Word.

There are limitations and dangers, however and we must be aware of

them. Paul warned both Timothy and Titus to avoid foolish and stupid

questions that lead to senseless controversy. There are many questions that

are foolish that they deserve to be ignored. Some people have a knack of

inquiring into the irrelevant and insignificant. A guide at the Metropolitan

Museum of Art in New York City took a group through and pointed out

various masterpieces. He gave a brief list of the painters, and after he asked if

anyone had any questions. "Yes," said one lady, "How do you get such a high