Legacy Moment: The Importance of Asking Questions

by Pastor Travis Lee Thompson

Posting information on social media is not a planned event

for me. My spontaneous decision to use a "pen of a ready
writer" is based on what I've seen and/or what I've heard
that inspired me to use that pen. In this case, it is based on a
collection of powerful sermons delivered by the #1
intellectual Christian Apologist (defender of the gospel) in
the world today whose name is Evangelist/Teacher Ravi
Zacharias. The weird thing was that the revelation in this
post had little to do with the content I heard on Ravi's
Youtube playlist of sermons.

I initially hesitated to post this revelation because of the

difficulty trying to understand it with one's mind. The
revelation bypassed my mind and went straight to my heart.
Hence, please don't make the mistake of using your mind to
understand this revelation. Instead, use your heart.

Do you remember how you became a Christian? After

numerous attempts of others to win you to Christ, you (or at
least some of you) kept turning down those invitations
because your mind kept getting in the way and screwing up
what was going on in your heart. However, there came a
time when you finally allowed the message of salvation to
bypassed your mind and say "YES" to Jesus Christ and His
plan of salvation from your heart.

I have a co-worker who doesn't like me because I ask too

many questions. Thanks to this revelation, I count it all joy.
Here's the revelation: the key to having the right answers
that lead to meaningful knowledge, you must ask the right
questions. Don't view asking questions as an opportunity to
get meaningless conversational information that will
eventually be forgotten in your conscious mind. Think of
asking questions as a principle of setting yourself up
(preparing) to obtain meaningful information that can be
used to answer questions.

The revelation is hidden in the following verse: "...be

READY always to give an ANSWER to every man that
ASKETH you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear...(1st Peter 3:15b)." The key to providing
answers is to ask questions. Don't wait until people began
asking you questions. After all, I found out that some of us
don't like to be asked questions. The principle reminds me
of readers who (for the most part) eventually become
writers. Asking meaningful questions prepares us provide
meaningful answers. Afterwards, people will begin asking
you meaningful questions. It's possible that some of us
don't like to be asked questions may be a sign that we are
not prepared to provide any meaningful answers.

Those who ask questions with questionable motives are

basically gossippers with a "hot" story to tell others with
"itchy" ears. An example of a person who based his entire
life on answering intriguing questions was Socrates (my
favorite philosophy). His followers called such a lifestyle
"The Socratic Method." Plato (my second favorite
philosopher) recorded many of Socrates' questions that
ended up proving that he was smarter than the so-called
"experts" of his day. Socrates' "question authority"
statement should not be used by rebels to disrespect those
in authority. Within the context of Socrates' era (similar to
this era), those in authority didn't like citizens asking (in a
respectful way) meaningful questions concerning their
knowledge. (By the way, we have someone in authority
today who has the same attitude that has been around for
thousands of years.)

My goal is to provide answers that is expected of all

Christians in 1st Peter 3:15. I believe that Ravi Zacharias
has already achieved such a goal concerning the hope that
lies within all of us. Ravi is one of many Apologists with a
calling to do a great job of defending that hope. Allow me
to give you a glimpse of Ravi's defense of the gospel. His
extensive experience with debating Atheists has become
like a rolodex of questions on his desk. After the Atheist
finished his "pot-shot at Christianity" question, Ravi began
by saying that such questions have been asked and
answered for years (very deflating to the Atheist's ego).
Don't forget what the Bible says about Atheists: It is a fool
who says in his/her heart that there is no God.

In case there may be Christians who have embraced the

theory of determinism (based on the all-knowing nature of
God who knows both what we did and what we will do),
I'll provide some details about how Ravi crushed such a
theory. God's knowledge of our future decisions/actions
does not imply that he's determined to put our freewill on
hold and force us to do what He wants us to do. There are
evil people in authority who does such things to their
citizens, but we should not include God in this authoritative
group of Politicians.

Revivalist John Calvin got caught up in this theory because

of his misunderstanding of God's knowledge concerning
who will or will not be saved. God has such knowledge
because of His omniscience. However, God is both smart
and nice enough (a Perfect Gentleman) to not allow His
omniscience to interfere with our free-will. God knows the
final decision of people concerning salvation. He rejoices
over those who will make the decision accept Christ as
their savior. Also, God is crying concerning those who will
decide to remain a sinner. God will never go beyond the
following level of His spiritual influence concerning the
future spiritual decisions of mankind: "Then saith he unto
his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he will send forth labourers (those who will
share the gospel of salvation and healing) into his harvest
(Matthew 9:37,38)."

It's a shame that John Calvin turned the warped theory of

determinism into a defeatist doctrine that hindered the
revival started by him. The hinderance was the warped
possibility of witnessing to people who will end up
remaining a sinner. We don't have such knowledge. What
about those who took a chance and witnessed to us? Our
responsibility is to share the gospel with others. Nothing
more. Nothing less. In return, God will do His part and
send His followers across their path to minister unto them.
Here's Ravi's logical conclusion based on the Atheist's
claim to the so-called truth (in his mind) of determinism:
"Whenever someone lays a claim to a truth (a free-will
mental action), that person has just unwittingly
(unknowingly) violated the rules of determinism."

Even though many of us in the Body of Christ don't have

an apologetic calling, we do have a calling to achieve the
goal of 1st Peter 3:15, not just Robby. If we don't have any
meaningful answers, then we have not been asking any
meaningful questions. Such a skill does come with
accusations of being "nosy." Unless you're really being
nosey, allow such persecution to roll off of you like water
off of a duck's back.

Don't ignore the word "ready" in 1st Peter 3:15. God

doesn't want us to start immediately to provide answers.
Instead, God wants us to BE READY to accomplish such a
feat. How can we prepare for such a goal? It begins with
learning how to ask meaningful questions. How can we
learn how to ask such questions? It begins by being a
curious, active, and engaging listener to a variety of
subjects that includes the hope that lies within us.
Socrates was such a listener. I'm familiar with the "curiosity
kills the cat" cliche that applies to the context of
gossipping. Within the context of this post, it is curiosity
that leads to active listening that leads to asking curious
questions that prepare us to provide answers. The numerous
products we enjoy began as curiosity in the minds of the
products' inventors.

I encourage you to verify this post's content by using the

internet (invented by the military's curiosity) to look up
Socrates and Ravi Zacharias. I end this post with a quote
from Bishop T.D. Jakes: "Without a doubt, we know that
Jesus Christ is the ANSWER!!! However, do we know what
is the QUESTION???"