Jesus ran into them: questions to trap Him. They were carefully constructed questions that would test his mettle: Should we pay taxes? Should we stone this adultress?
The questioners didn't want the answer, necessarily; they wanted to put Him into a box, make Him look bad, show Him for the poser they thought Him to be -- set Him up.
Another kind of question is a true, searching question, but with the feeling that the questioner already knows the answer, but wants to find some way to justify: "I've done everything I can to be saved...what could possibly be left?" the rich young ruler wants to know. "I only started the sacrifices because you were late, " says King Saul to Samuel -- "What did you expect me to do?"
Here's a question posed to me in the ladies' Bible study yesterday in the jail:
"Is it a sin for me to sell drugs so my babies can eat -- cause I can't work and I can't get disability -- and I know if I had the chance, I'd do it again?"
In other words: Will God judge me for breaking the law if it's the only way I can eat and feed my family?
Now posing questions to answer questions is an age old technique: When Peter was telling Jesus what everyone thought about Him, Jesus asked, "Well who do YOU think I am?"
The Socratic Method, named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is based on asking questions to stimulate debate
One Jewish writer says: "as God leads us out of bondage in Egypt so the act of questioning leads us out of the bondage of ignorance."
There is nothing wrong with questions -- and the simple act of asking them aloud causes us to learn, before the answer is even offered. Too often the teacher wants to rush in and answer without making true reflection available.
Doug Pollock, author of God Space and Irresistible Evangelism, believes in Questions. In fact, he offers a whole list of them on his website http://www.godsgps.com/ called "Wondering Questions".
So to the question about whether or not it is a sin to sell drugs to feed ones' babies, I give another question:
"Well, what do you think?"
In answering her own question, many truths are revealed: she believes it IS wrong, she feels guilty, she honestly feels trapped by her lack of options. "But what about my babies. I can't let them starve."
"Well where are your babies now?" another girl answers. Are they better off where they are now, with you in here?
I said nothing(anything I was going to say would have sounded judgemental and alienating, I'm almost sure), and let the other women in the room answer the question, along with the questioner. The power and wisdom of God was clearly at work, and the process so much more powerful than my going to Scripture, pointing to THE ANSWER, and moving on.
As a result of the questions and the discussion that followed, I learned (these ladies feel desperately trapped by their poverty and lack of options), they learned (it's okay to ask questions -- I already have the answers within me, through the Counselor living within me...) and we were willing to move forward in faith. Later in the session, we discussed Advent and its meaning. I had chosen a verse for the occasion before the class, but when it was read, God's ANSWER was manifest: Isaiah 1:18-20 (New Living Translation)
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.
19 If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat.
20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the Lord, have spoken
"I guess he's talking to me," says the questioner.
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