Allow me to pose a question...

Have you ever questioned someone in authority simply because you did not understand or agree with their position? If you answered, "yes" then you have probably been chastised, ridiculed, yelled at, etc. For some reason, authority figures do not want to be questioned. Why? Do they feel threatened? inadequate? vulnerable? perhaps even weak?

Growing up in and mostly out of the church environment, I was never taught to question authority. Especially those in spiritual authority [whatever that is]. When someone would ask me a question about why I believed what I believed concerning God, my only answer was "because that's how I was raised." I was a Christian that went to a hybrid baptist/pentecostal church because that's where my parents went. I never knew why and I would be so bold to say that neither did they.

School has never been very difficult for me; you find the answer in the material and memorize it for a test. Pretty simple. When I began seminary, the answers to the questions my professors were asking could not be found in any book. This was a very difficult position for me to be in. For the first time in my life, I began to question. I questioned why I considered myself a southern baptist. I questioned why I believed women should not be pastors. I questioned my professors on ethics and philosophies of the church. I too faced opposition...especially in the classroom.

But the most glorious part of all these questions was that the Bible I had been reading for the better part of 15 years opened itself up to me in a way I cannot even describe. I literally saw Scripture for what it really was and not some subjective view that had been burned into my mind. I met God. A God that for whatever reason loves a mud ball like me.

This entry deals with chapter 1 of Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Rob states, "And this is why questions are so central to faith. A question by its very nature acknowledges that the person asking the question does not have all of the answers. And because the person does not have all the answers, they are looking outside of themselves for guidance(p.31)."

Maybe that is why some authority figures get upset when we question. They themselves refuse to question because they view it as a sign of weakness. This could not be any more false. Great leaders surround themselves with those that are smarter than they are within their given talents and fields.

Questions bring freedom. Why? Because if we become comfortable asking the "why" questions, we better understand that we don't have it all together ourselves. I have much to share. However, I will always have twice as much to learn. We should always remain teachable. "When everything gets answered, it's fake. The mystery is the truth (p. 33)."