Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi – director of the United Church of Christ’s Center for Analytics, Research and Data – recently wrote about the importance of asking “why” questions. She reminds us that Jesus was the master of using just the right why question at just the right time, and offers several examples including:
- Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
- Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
- Why do you doubt?
She suggests that we should follow Jesus’ example by including more “why” questions in our faith talk. Lizardy-Hajbi calls “why” questions her “very favorite kinds of questions,” and proposes that “when they are asked at just the right moment, in a way that is direct and sincere, they have the potential to reframe, generate, and transform us.”
So What?
Churches must be communities of faith that are safe places for people to ask questions, and to search for answers. I have identified the need for churches to be more about questions and less about answers as one of the top shifts happening now. In any given congregation, it is essential that leaders give appropriate attention to creating environments that communicate all questions are welcome, including (and perhaps even especially) the “why” questions.
- Do you think of your church as the kind of place that is more about questions and less about answers? Explain.
- Share one “why” question you have explored, including how it helped reframe, generate, and/or transform you.