Rock of Offence (7) - Dangerous Questions

1. Turning a statement about the facts of a situation, into a statement about the nature and the character of God is dangerous. Sometimes when a respected Christian dies of a illness, Christians deal with it by saying, “God does not heal everyone”. That is true as a statement of fact, because this Christian was not healed. However “God does not heal everyone” is dangerous when it becomes a theological statement, because it suggests that God is capricious or fickle. The question insinuates offence at God. People do not say it out loud, but they are questioning the extent of his love, his goodness or his power. The following unspoken questions make this clear.

   Why would a good God allow this to happen?
   Why could a powerful God not prevent this from happening?
   Why would a loving God allow someone to suffer in this way?

   When we are offended by God, we tend to blame him for things that are evil.
   
   
2. When things go wrong, it is good to ask God why. That was John the Baptist’s response. Likewise, the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to heal the boy with the evil spirit (Mark 9:28). However, although it is good to ask why, we must be very careful about how we frame our questions. John’s question was dangerous, because it tested Jesus character and ministry on the basis John’s experience.

   Are you the one? (Matt 11:3).

   The disciples question was better, because it tested their experience, against the standards of Jesus.

   Why couldn’t we…(Mark 9:28)?

   Their question expressed humility, not offence at God.
   
   We should be careful to ask these questions without going into condemnation. We are human, so we will often get things wrong. All that God expects is that we learn from our mistakes and grow in faith.
   
   
3. We must never ask our questions in a way that puts God on trial. We can confess our lack of faith, but we must never cast doubt on his love, or his goodness or his power. We must never ask a question that blames God. We must never accuse him of not meeting our expectations. The Bible defines these questions as being offended by God, and offence leads to unbelief.
   
   Our questions are often similar to those of the people of Nazareth. When our worship is a bit flat we say,

   Was the Holy Spirit here?
   The Holy Spirit is always there, so we should really be asking.
   Have we grieved the Spirit”?

   We should always ask our questions in a way that honours the Holy Spirit.
   
   The Bible defines any question that blames or accuses him as being offended by him. He wants us to talk to him about things that happen so we can learn, but we must never ask questions that put him on trial. God is love. God is good. Love and goodness are at the heart of his character. Questioning his love, or his goodness, or his power is and insult to his character. We must never shift the blame for our weakness to God.
   
   The following questions are dangerous because the reflect disappointment and could lead to offence at God.

   Why did God allow this to happen?
   Why did God not answer our prayers?
   He was a good man. Why did God not heal him?
   Why has God left this lovely family without a father?
   We could ask why the forces of evil would do these things, but the answer is so obvious that the question is hardly worth asking.

   Here are some humble questions that will enable us to learn.

   Why is my grief so painful? (Because you loved them of course.)
   Why was the church not able to heal the sick person?
   What is the reason for our lack of faith?
   Was there a root cause for this sickness that we missed?
   Why is our church powerless against sickness?
   Why are our elders unable to get victory over sickness

4. This does not mean that we cannot be totally honest with God about what is happening to us. We can say
   

   This pain is tearing me apart
   My heart is so heavy that I feel it will break.
   I know how I should be responding, but I just cannot do it.

   We do not need to pretend. We can tell the Father about our feelings and our struggles. He can cope with honesty; but we must not tell God what he should be feeling or doing. Job is a good example. He let it all hang out, but one important thing that he did not do. He refused to accuse God.
   

   In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 1:22).

   When dealing with pain and death we can be honest with God about what is going on in our lives. He is glad when we are open with him and ask for help. However, we must guard our hearts lest our pain turn into disappointment or offence with him.