We all have people in our lives that don’t know Christ. And these people often—even if they don’t admit it—have questions about God and life.
I’m sure some of the people in your life have asked some of these questions:
- Does God exist?
- How do you know he is real?
- Why is there suffering and evil in the world if God is in control?
- If God created the world why do so many people believe in evolution?
You probably have heard those questions from time to time. Maybe privately while you were having coffee or a meal with that person. Or maybe they took the opportunity to lob those questions to you in front of a captive audience to try to embarrass you.
And these questions are important because we want these people to know God and Jesus Christ. We want them to love God and follow him like we do. When we get to heaven these are the people that we hope are there when we get there and that we spend eternity with in heaven. And that’s why for us as believers, we need to be ready and prepared to talk with them and discuss their questions.
In the book of John there’s a passage I like to call “Q & A Time with John the Baptist.” In this passage John the Baptist has two groups approach him and ask him questions, and we get to see the variety of answers he gives them. And as we go through this passage together I think you will notice that there are similarities between what John the Baptist was doing and what we do to engage the unchurched in our culture today.
THE QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
John’s Context
There were priests and Levites that ask, “John, who are you?” These “priests” and “Levites” from Jerusalem were the guards at the temple that served as temple police. They also provided music for the temple services. They ask, “John, who are you?”
This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” (John 1:19-23)
There were also Pharisees that ask, “John, what are you doing?”The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that lived during Jesus’s time who took a strong study of the Law and made additional interpretations of it. They essentially ask, “John, what are you doing?
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1:24–28)
Our Context
You and I have more in common with John the Baptist than you think. While John was pointing to Christ and he had groups of people approach him asking questions, we too have groups of people coming to us asking questions about us and our God.
First, there are atheists that say There is nothing!” An atheist is someone that believes there is no god. He or she says, “There is nothing and I know there is nothing.” They often say “I only need science and reason, I don’t need a God or higher power. There’s no such thing as coincidence or Karma.” While their war cry is “There is nothing” the questions they often ask us are not usually questions, but are declarations: “How can you prove God exists?” “Faith is for weak people, why are you weak and need faith?” Why would you submit to a god?” Atheists often are on a mission to disprove religion and Christianity.
Second, there are agnostics that ask, “Is there something?” An agnostic is someone that believes there might be something. He or she says, “There is something but I don’t know what it is and I don’t think there is a way to know what it is.” For the agnostic there’s no way of knowing if there is a God or who he is.
Third, there are apathetics that ponder, “Do I care?” These people don’t want to talk about God. They don’t really have questions except, “Why does God matter?” They don’t really care. These are some of the hardest people to talk to because you don’t have much to work with. You can’t get any traction. I remember once giving a gospel of John booklet to a friend who I regularly played golf with. I told him I thought he might like to read it and learn about Christianity. A month later I asked him if he had read it and he simply said, “no.” Then didn’t say anything else.
THE ANSWERS WE GIVE
So with a thorough examination of the people asking questions in John’s context and what three groups of people we often interact with in our context, let’s look at how we should answer people’s questions that we interact with.
Our Answers Should Be Correct
This is important because the church is becoming less and less biblically literate. We must encourage our church people to read their Bible every day, join a Bible study during the week, listen to podcasts of sermons or radio broadcasts of Bible teaching, and read good Christian books.
If an atheist, agnostic, or apathetic person comes to us we should know enough about the Bible and God to be able to talk to them and have a conversation with them. And when Atheists, agnostics, or apathetics come to us, they want an experienced Christian that knows his or her Bible.
Our Answers Should Be Appropriate
If someone loses a child she needs love and encouragement, not a theological lesson about the age of accountability. If someone’s spouse has asked for a divorce he doesn’t need to hear a verse from Proverbs that says you reap what you sow. He needs to hear a verse about God’s longsuffering unconditional lovingkindness to his people.
Our answers need to be short and direct (not long). They need to be reflective of what the Bible says (not just based on our personal experiences). They need to be simple (not filled with Christian jargon or words they don’t understand). Our answers should be appropriate to the person and his or her needs.
Our Answers Should Be Gentle
We need to be conversational, not confrontational. We need to be humble, not prideful. Because it is possible to win the argument but lose the person. If we are prideful, arrogant, rude, interrupt someone, and yell, but we “win” the argument we can actually lose the person.
When they ask questions we can’t answer, instead trying to make something up, we should be able to graciously say, “That’s a good question, I’m not sure what the answer is.”
Part of the way we give gentle answers is to describe ourselves as Christians that have faith seeking understanding. In other words, we don’t reason our way into a belief about God. But instead, it is through our faith in Christ that we learn and grow and seek a deeper understanding of God.
CONCLUSION
People are asking questions. And we have answers that we can share with them. And when we share those answers we are like John the Baptist. We are not Elijah, we are not a prophet, and we definitely are not the Messiah. But we are a voice like John the Baptist that shares how we believe in Jesus Christ and that we know him. And as God’s voice we share with people answers to their questions that are correct, appropriate, and gentle.