The Art of Answering with Questions
I recently finished a book by Randy Newman titled, "Questioning Evangelism." His basic use of questions in the practice of evangelism is incredible. The main idea that he poses is the idea that as Christians we should not be so quick to answer questions with answers. Rather he lays out the idea that asking a question in response to a question is a wonderful way of surfacing unknown presuppositions or hidden agendas. Furthermore, by asking a question in response to a question the ingrained tension in the conversation will be defused. In other words, instead of answering a confrontational question so as to defend the Christian faith or doctrine, an inquiry in response to the original question can serve as a way to bring about the unknown presuppositions of the one being evangelized. Once the question is passed back, the pressure is on the individual to analyze their original inquiry. What this does is prevents the person from answering a question that is based initially upon false presuppositions or ill-thought assumptions. Once the ingrained beliefs of the person initiating the question are exposed and addressed, the evangelist may then be free to dialogue on a much deeper level that will be closer to the emotional/spiritual difficulty of the recipient.
For example:
"Jon, what do you think about hell?" said Susie.
"What do you believe about it Susie and why do you ask?" Replied Jon.
With hesitance Susie said, "Oh, well... I think it is a silly myth and a foolish concept that evolved through the ages as a means of keeping people in fear of the church."
"So, why are you asking me about a silly myth and a foolish concept... why would you want to dialogue about this?" Jon responded with gentleness.
With sorrow in her voice Susie said, "Umm, well... my best friend just passed away yesterday."
With compassion Jon said, "And you are trying to figure out what happens to a person after death?"
"Well, I guess so..." Susie said.
"Let me talk to you about what God has done about death." Jon replied.
---------------------
As we can see, Susie's question and point of tension was not hell, but the pain and loss of her friend. If Jon hadn't asked a question in response, the above conversation would've spiraled out of control into an hour long debate on the doctrine of hell, the condition of evil and the holiness of God... all of which would've not addressed the deeper issue of Susie's pain and loss of her friend.
So you may ask, "So what this blog posting is all about is that there is an Art of Answering a Question with a Question?"
Comments