Why Is It Important For Youth To Ask Questions?

Why is it important for church youth to ask questions? What is good about it?

No Question about It

I heard one teacher years ago say that there are no dumb question…the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. There are no questions that are beyond being asked. The youth should feel free to ask any question and be free from worry about asking it. What would any of us learn if we never asked question? How could we ever grow as human beings? Why not ask questions, even if the answer is “I don’t know.” Sometimes a good teacher will prompt students by saying “What do you think? What does this mean to you?”

Whyitis

My oldest child had what I call “whyitis.” He was constantly asking me “Dad, why does this do that?” and “How do you… (Just fill in the blank). Sometimes I had to tell him, I just don’t know and that’s okay. I was asked once, “How do you explain the problem of suffering if there is a God?” He didn’t understand why God would allow suffering and I can’t really explain it either. All I do know is that it works for the good of the saved (Rom 8:28). Then I asked him, “Since you don’t believe in God…and you are sure there is no God, what is your explanation for suffering in the world. Explain that to me!” Of course, he couldn’t. Since he doesn’t believe in God then he has no choice but to ultimately blame mankind for suffering!

God’s Intervention

There are ways that we can prepare our youth for frontal assaults from non-believers but we must ensure them that the knowledge of God is spiritually discerned and not learned by empirical knowledge alone. It takes God’s Holy Spirit to illuminate their eyes. Paul wrote “it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” but “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1st Cor 2:9-10) so we can’t know them outside of God’s direct intervention through His Spirit. Paul writes, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1st Cor 2:11).

The Spirit’s Help

Jesus said before He left this earth to return to the Father that He’d leave them a Helper so that they can recall the things that Jesus taught them (John 14:16) and “He will testify about me” (John 15:26c). This is the only reason Paul could write “And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1st Cor 2:12) because “we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1st Cor 2:13). So the Spirit of God interprets “spiritual truths” but only “to those who are spiritual,” meaning they have the Holy Spirit and can discern spiritual truths.

True wisdom

The real wisdom doesn’t really come from below but from above as the psalmist wrote, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2). Even in our praying, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom 8:26). Learning is not an option for the Christian as we are told to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity” (2nd Pet 3:18).

Conclusion

Thankfully, God has sent His Spirit to those Who He calls and we can “know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever” (1st John 2:1-2). If you have repented and trusted in Christ, then “you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father” (Rom 8:15) “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26-27).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.