6. The Right Questions
The next essential bit of need to know information from Aseem’s top ten is this: ‘Ask the right questions’.
I like this one because it plays right into a sense of self-reliance and independence. What? Well, I used to make it a bit of a habit to ask other Christian men about stuff that God was doing in their lives, or things that God was speaking to them about at the moment.
I was doing that because it was done to me. When I worked in a drug rehabilitation centre in Brazil the men there would come over to me every day and say ‘O senhor, Deus falou algo para voce hoje?’ ‘Sir, what has God said to you today?’
Now, I need to be honest, when this first started happening it made me read my bible everyday to make sure I had a reply for them, but what it also started to show me is that asking the right questions makes us go deeper and encourages us to keep learning.
I think Aseem is suggesting that by thinking strategically about your questions and asking the right ones you will get the best answers and advance your life. Fine, I’m not arguing with that. But I want to suggest something else, by asking the questions, be they right or wrong, we cultivate a subtle culture in us that says’ I want to keep learning, I haven’t got all this sorted and I need to learn from my brothers and sisters.’
I think this is so important for us as Christian men. The amount of heart ache and mess I could have avoided if I had asked some questions, listened to the answers and built a pattern of learning in my life sooner.
Don’t confuse this with a pioneer spirit, and a call into the wild to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them. I think that all that will still happen even if we ask the right questions or not. The point is that we nurture a pattern of learning and not a framework of ‘I know best.’
Jesus’ mates, the disciples, asked some of the best questions you will ever see. They questioned Jesus about their power and authority, their places in heaven and who should be near Jesus or not. They questioned Jesus parables, asked for more details and inside information. They questioned Jesus’ actions and how he maintained his focus, prayer life and attitudes.
The disciples didn’t always ask the right questions, but they didn’t want to stop learning, they had a chance that had missed them before to sit and be taught, learn from Jesus and they grabbed it with both hands. Another cool thing is that Jesus didn’t push the disciples away for asking the wrong questions, he just set about unpacking things even more.
With Jesus I don’t think there is a right set of questions, he just wants to teach us !!
Image Credit: Emily Morter
