“Question everything,” say some people. “God can handle our questions, and besides, God’s ways are so far beyond ours that it would be silly for us to pretend we’ve got a corner on the truth. Raising questions helps us go deeper into the mystery of God and frees us from the arrogant belief that we’ve got it all figured out.”
“Questioning everything is foolish,” say others. “All you do with your questioning is cause people to doubt and give a foothold to the devil. Better to believe without wavering, and to communicate the truth of God in power. Raising questions only distracts us from having faith in what we know to be true.”
So who is right? Neither one. Listen to John, who gives us a better way in 1 John 4:1: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” The Biblical way is not to resist questioning, nor is it to question everything; the Biblical way is to test everything.
This truth has been important for me to reflect on recently. I am someone who is content with mystery, not afraid to raise things for questioning, and not afraid to critically examine things of this world or things of God. I have found that while some question out of a skeptical nature, I am probably more likely to question out of a fear of coming down with one interpretation, or out of a reluctance to commit myself to finding the answer. While I am thankful for my fearlessness when it comes to raising questions and trying to understand the complicated parts of the faith, I know that I always need to check myself to make sure that I am not just questioning for the sake of questioning, but doing what John teaches: “testing the spirits.”
What is the difference between questioning and testing? Testing something starts with questioning it, critiquing it, and not just accepting that it’s true because someone who claims to be speaking for God said it. But it doesn’t stop there. Ultimately, testing the spirits is taking what is said and measuring it against the Bible. In 1 John 4, John is writing to a church that is being influenced by Gnostic teachers who, because of their belief that all matter is evil, are teaching that Jesus did not really have a human body. So, John continues in 1 John 4:2-4 to say, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” For John’s church, a false prophet was one who did not acknowledge that Jesus had come in the flesh from God. In our day, there can also be many false prophets and teachers who claim to be speaking for God but whose words do not line up with what the Bible has to say.
Of course, for every person who is not afraid of questions but sometimes neglects to actually test that question against Scripture, there is someone who is leery of questions altogether. There are plenty of Christians who like to keep God inside their theological boxes, and are afraid that questions will only complicate things and cause people to lose faith in God. This is a valid concern, of course, for some can not handle a complicated God. But unfortunately, a quick tour through any part of the Bible reveals a God that is more complicated than our Sunday School teachers ever told us. The story of Noah’s ark is more than a cute story about animals and God’s protection; just ask the man whose family is drowning in the flood. Furthermore, an honest look at our lives often reveals a life of faith that is harder to understand than we wish it sometimes were. The truth is that it takes a brave person to let go of his or her Sunday School faith and delve into the mysteries of God, but it is only such a journey that will lead one to give God the awe and wonder He deserves.
Dear friends, let us test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Remember the Bereans in Acts 17:11, who “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Do not be afraid of questions, but do not just question for the sake of questioning. Test everything, so that you might come to a true knowledge of God and give Him the worship He deserves.
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