One of the main teachings of Jesus, which never happened, was “questioning God is wrong.”
VI. Conclusion
Jesus Never Taught Questioning God is Wrong
Jesus NEVER said that and instead allowed whoever wanted to ask Him questions. Yes, I am saying God came in the flesh as Jesus Christ.
The Bible says so – check this out:
Too many ask God the wrong questions and wonder why answers are few and far between. Let’s first deal with the church foolishness which shuns questioning God because “it is wrong.”
Is it wrong to question the Lord? The answer is an unequivocal no.
We often focus on what Jesus said, instead of understanding many of His teachings are misconstrued. The greatest example of this was Jesus’ teaching: “we should never judge others.”
That is the battle cry of the unrighteous who don’t want accountability! Jesus began Matthew 7 by saying this, sure, but read the following seven (7) verses!
The ultimate form of communication with God, of course, is prayer. If someone is teaching we should never question God, is it then wrong in prayer time to ask: “Jesus, what should I do next?”
No beloved, questioning the Lord is not wrong and is actually wise. If I believe that I don’t have all the answers, how do I find them? Better yet, who has the answers I seek?
If God does, why shouldn’t I inquire?
As a Pastor, I always encourage people to conduct simple thought experiments. When we are told something, it is always best to ask: “who said that and where did you get the information?”
If you asked that question enough times to the false information bearers, you will discover how wrong they usually are. I used to be one of them and sometimes still am! In another article on suicide and depression, I briefly spoke about not staying in a place of discouragement too long.
Getting out of these places takes prayer, patience, and asking God questions on HOW to exit.
The self-righteous want you to believe that even if it’s at the cost of self-murder, you should never ask God a question.
Jesus Christ Answered Questions as God
Sometimes people with unrighteous motives questioned Jesus and He didn’t answer. This doesn’t mean they were wrong ‘for’ questioning Him, only that their motives were.
Remember this quasi-exchange (Luke 23: 6-9):
At other times, He allowed questions and provided answers.
Throughout the biblical record, we find people asking Him questions. One of the most well-known is in the Gospel of John chapter 3. This is the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus who privately came to Jesus, by night, to better understand Jesus’s mission.
Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin Council made up of Pharisees. Nicodemus believed Jesus had come from God, as demonstrated by this statement: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: because no man can do these miracles unless God sent him”.
Jesus then shared a world changing truth. Nicodemus, not understanding what Jesus was saying, asked: “can a man being old enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born”?
Jesus’s response was both life changing, and world altering (John 3:16-17):
Nicodemus asked Jesus Christ a question and Jesus didn’t rebuke him for doing so. It must not escape our notice that in NOT rebuking Him, Jesus verified it was not evil to ask.
The question, and Jesus’ answer, revealed how to obtain salvation!
Do not miss this: without Nicodemus, his question, and Jesus’ response, how could we know the way to salvation? If, then, Jesus is the greatest being to ever walk the Earth, Nicodemus asked the greatest question, to this greatest being!
This is the singular set of scriptures which can lead anyone willing, to a reconcile eternity with God. A seven-year-old child could read the Scripture, believe it, and be with God for eternity.
These things become important because Nicodemus asked the question and Jesus gave in eternity changing answer. We shouldn't question God is deception, therefore. This is another teaching, such as Jesus told us not to judge, which never happened.
Although I do not believe that worn-out and stupid cliché: “the only stupid question is one (1) unasked”, I know unasked queries lead to hell.
Are those who say God should not be question stating that no one should even asked the question about how to live with God forever? How do we know the way if one refuses to ask for directions?
Questioning God is Different Than Accusing Him
There is a difference between questioning God and accusing Him!
In the story in Jeremiah, chapter 20, the Prophet made a sinful accusation, towards God: “thou hast deceived me and I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I and has prevailed…”
Jeremiah wasn’t asking God a question as was Nicodemus. The Prophet was accusing God of deception. There, dear friends, is the difference. Are you asking God an earnest question for which you are seeking a life changing answer?
Or are you accusing God of wrongdoing simply because you do not understand His ways?
Whatever church you attend, it must be focused on discipleship. It is through discipleship that you learn who God created you to be. Most people, not understanding the importance of the right question, choose to ask none.
It is more dangerous to leave eternal questions unasked than to ask. We walked down these roads to darkness because we have neither the intelligence nor training on approaching He who knows all.
If hungry, would you ask a parent/caregiver for food?
When seeking the heart of God for your life and ministry, “what should I do” is the wrong question. A more life altering query is: “Jesus who did you create me to be?” Once you know “who God created you to be”, what He expects becomes apparent.
God is sovereign and has the answers we seek. Although God knew the answer to the question He asked Adam, that didn’t stop Him from asking.
We are created in God’s own image and after his likeness. We experience the emotions He gave us to experience. Now, this does not include unrighteous fear or jealousy.
However, being made so, God modeled how we should behave and established a parental style relationship to guide us. So not only did God model, with the first humans, “how” to ask a question, He later came to Earth and told US to ask!
How much more evidence does He have to provide dear one? Do you not remember even He said: “ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find.”
Asking God a question is no more evil than asking a parent or caregiver.
Ask God Who You Are in Him
Most who read this will not necessarily be called to preach as an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, or even Deacon.
Now that we are past the non-sensical position of “never ask God a question”, let’s frame “how” to ask.
When you go before the Lord God, make sure you are asking the question which is going to further His will (in your life). The days of God’s Sheep believing anything a ‘leader’ says simply because of a church title are over.
I am not accusing our forebears of not standing on God’s Word. What I am saying, however, is we now live in a time where information is readily available. Electronic devices connected to the world wide web, were designed to provide answers to life’s most pressing questions.
Let me be clear: search engines may have the answers, but they do not provide life. God is the only provider of life eternal. One of the largest issues with search engines is that anybody can write anything they want and have it indexed.
This is especially dangerous within the faith.
Those seeking the heart of Jesus know how to ask search engines questions but have never learned to righteously question God. Yes, the right question could lead you to the right website, which can point you toward God.
But that same website, even though you asked the right question to arrive there, cannot provide life. That only lies in the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. To be a bit simpler, preachers, or in this case Christian writers, are signposts pointing you to God.
There are myriad dangers for those who may not ask the right questions. They go to the search engines, asked the wrong question, and end up in the wrong place.
We have a great biblical example of such an exchange.
Judas was in the wrong place, with the wrong people, and asked the wrong question.
He was deceived, betrayed Jesus, and killed himself. I submit that the same deception awaits any who so position themselves as did Judas.
Beloved of God, the wrong people, or software, could lead you to the wrong place even though you seek the right answers.
There truly is no ‘wrong way to do the right thing’ nor ‘right way to do the wrong thing.’
The Right Church Asks the Hard Questions
It is my hope you are led to a church God has for you. The right church asks the tough questions.
For instance, I wrote an article on the dangers of not listening to the call of God.
There are few things more dangerous, if any, than not listening to the Holy Spirit’s leading to the right congregation.
What is most important is that you have an encounter with the Lord your God. For those new to the faith — you can have an experience with God, through the Holy Spirit, right where you are! After that experience, you need to be discipled.
As a Pastor who loves delivering God’s Word through various technological platforms, even I understand social media platforms can’t take the place of being amongst other Believers.
You need in-person fellowship!
What you need cannot be accomplished through simply watching so-called Christian television, viewing videos of sermons, or even ZOOM. The worship experience (and place) God has already assigned you is waiting.
This church, wherever it is, must never make you comfortable. Although alien to even practicing believers, ‘discomfort’ is the prescription to build our faith. True is the saying: “untested faith is no faith at all.”
As a church leader it makes me squirm when I hear people speak about how comfortable they are in a church. Comfort in a church is much different often than the peace of mind given by God.
For instance, there has been an exodus out of local black churches to a larger fellowship in the city.
Smaller churches are more intimate and demanding with respect to ministry assignments. Larger congregations allow people to hide, become comfortable, and not be challenged beyond hearing a Sunday message.
Being able to regularly access Gid’s Leader is crucial to growth. Regardless of what new age churches teach, if you have never had a conversation with your Pastor, you are not being Pastored!
A blanket statement but here is my challenge to those who rebuff this. Even Jesus allowed people He preached to access Him. You can make the: “the church was smaller and just getting started argument” but it doesn’t hold water friend!
People got to touch Jesus, but they are not able to access their Pastor. Literally, they can access “God in the Flesh” but not some Preacher? They touched Paul and Peter but not a modern-day Preacher?
To my brother Preachers: make time for God’s people! No matter how much you train those you send in your “care ministry”, they are not equipped to minister as you are. Even your associate ministers are not the Shepherd God sent to His people.
Jesus called Himself “the Good Shepherd.” You, as his messengers have made yourself beyond the reach of those who so desperately need to hear from YOU?
You seriously need to re-read Matthew 25:35-40 again if you believe the “hands off” policy is of God.
I know some who have left the smaller church locally to attend a larger. One smaller church was led by the meekest man of God I have ever met!
That becomes interesting because the real men of God are abandoned while the crooked preachers collect Sheep like baseball cards.
The Pastor of the larger church is my dear friend. His messages have challenged me as well! Although he is not a clown preacher, entertainer, or pulpit minstrel, he is the most powerful preacher in this city.
Yet I understand that people go to his congregation to virtually disappear. Although his messages are challenging, once people who hide leave the church, it rolls off them like rain awful raincoat. That is not my dear brother’s fault.
He did what God told him to do and will thus be held harmless for what they do with it. However, you must be challenged in suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ.
Listen to scripture on the matter (2nd Timothy 2):
Conclusion:
Beloved, ask God whether being comfortable is His will? By now, I am sure you see the wisdom of humbly going before God and asking the right questions.
So many have denied Holy Ghost Revelation through the deceptiveness of false teaching.
We must also frame Him within a parental relationship. The Bible says: “all things were created by him and for him and without him was not anything made that was made.” Within that matrix, God established His authority over everyone.
If we are not omniscient, meaning not knowing all things, what crime is there in presenting ourselves one to know everything?
Un-asked questions always equal unfulfilled destiny. Your eternal soul is on the line. That is not embellishment nor hyperbole.
Wasn’t Jesus himself who said: “if you ask anything in my name it shall be given.” He further said: “you have not because you have asked for.”
What will you do?
Header Image Courtesy of Gift Habeshaw @ Unsplashed