13, November 2005
Dakota Community Church
Questions
Do these quotes sound familiar?
“Children should be seen and not heard.”
“Because I’m your father and I said so; that’s why.”
Most of us were raised with the idea that it is somehow wrong to question authority.
The Church where I became a believer was forever reminding us that we should not question spiritual authority.
“Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”.
“Touch not God’s anointed.”
You get the idea.
If we were raised not to question authority then we certainly are not going to question God.
But is this the relationship God wants with us? Does God desire mindless obedience?
What about when the Spiritual authority is wrong?
Illustration:
When I was in Bible College one of my classes went to a local prison to minister to the inmates in the chapel there. Several of the men were very angry and one of the themes I kept hearing from them was that when, or if, they ever stood before God for judgment they would have a few questions for Him.
“Why did you let my dad desert our family?”
“Why did my little brother drown?”
I stood up and told them that “when” they stood before God they would be kneeling, and that God would be the One asking all the questions.
That happens to be true, but if I had it to do over again I would take a different approach.
Those questions reveal deep hurts. These are the kinds of questions that God wants to answer now. Asking these questions is the first step toward finding God.
If a Christian believes that God is calling him/her to preach but “pastor” doesn’t recognize it - which voice is to be obeyed?
Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
“Let us reason together”?
Again this seems to be a God who wants to be engaged in relationship, a nurturing Father.
Go ahead and ask your questions because:
1. Questions bring freedom.
When you are willing to ask questions it means you are willing to admit that you do not have all the answers. That is a truly liberating revelation.
Many of us think that God needs us to have everything figured out so we can be effective witnesses. The truth is that if you have God completely figured out you are not dealing with God, you are dealing with something you made up.
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
God reveals things to us, many things even, by His Spirit. He does not reveal everything to us.
Even Jesus was not told everything.
Matthew 23:35-36
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The Apostle Paul expressed it like this:
1Corinthians 13:12
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Doesn’t the bible say we are supposed to have an answer for everything?
1Peter 3:15
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
The hope you have - not every issue on the planet.
Go ahead and ask your questions because:
2. Questions are central to faith.
All through the Bible we see the people of God engaging him with questions.
Genesis 18:25-26
Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Exodus 4:1, 8, 10-13
Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The LORD did not appear to you’?"
Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Psalm 13:1-3
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Matthew 27:26
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Even in heaven this trend continues.
Revelation 6:9-10
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
a. Notice that none of these questioners are arrogant, rebellious or disrespectful. Questioning God involves a naked honest vulnerable desire to know the truth.
b. God gives spiritual authority to help equip us.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
That does not mean that you are supposed to blindly follow every directive that comes from the pulpit.
Respect the ministry, but obey God!
Go ahead and ask your questions because:
3. Questions lead to more questions.
More questions lead to more seeking and more seeking leads to more finding.
Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
If you study the Bible and you don’t come away with a sense of wonder and awe, then you haven’t studied the Bible.
Quote:
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
-- Albert Einstein
John 3: 16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Why does God love the world?
1John 4:7-8
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
If God is love is every love experience of God?
Everyone who loves is born of God, what does that mean?
If love never fails why do the marriages of people who love each other sometimes fail?
This message is based on the book “Velvet Elvis”
by Rob Bell (Pages 30-34)
Every believer should read this book!
PowerPoint available on request – dcormie@mts.net
