Closed Ended Questions

It is my day off—1st one in over 2 weeks!—and I'm sitting here, listening to a seminar from Andrew Marin from the National Youth Workers Convention. He talks about building bridges with the gay community.

In his work, Andrew often gets yes or no questions in relation to his topic. His point about yes or no questions is brilliant and can help us in answering people in many circumstances. He points out that closed ended questions are asked because the inquisitor already knows what they believe and want to peg the answerer into a category based on their response. At that point, there is no further dialogue.

He points out that Jesus was asked 29 closed ended questions in the gospels...by John the Baptist, by His disciples, and by His enemies. Can you guess how many times Jesus answered with a yes or no?

Three.

And those three times were to Pilate...when His ministry was over and the only thing that remained was the cross. Other than that, Jesus didn't answer with a yes or no to closed ended questions.

Answering closed ended questions with a yes or no puts the hearer in a position to fight, stand their ground and close off hearing you. Answering as Jesus often did puts us in a place to continue dialogue.

I'm pretty good at answering those questions with a yes or no. And I hope that I can become more like Jesus

Questions and Teachers

We had a very great class session yesterday in which three of our favorite profs came to class to discuss teaching. Students were allowed to ask any questions about teaching that they wanted.

Although at first I thought one student's question was a throw away for the grandness of the day, it provided some thought provoking responses from the panel.

The question? Who or what teachers do you admire/respect the most?

Dr. Harper's response:

Back when I was in college and grad school it would have been the teachers that provided the best answers to my questions. Now, it really are those teachers who ask the best questions to my given answers.

Wow. May we all keep on learning, asking questions, and never be stubborn enough to think we know it all.

Safe and sound

I do not propose to know the exact definitive answer on the issue of eternal security. It seems to me that stories of God's grace and the prodigal son, among others, plead for this view. On the other hand, there seem to be many passages which point toward the possibility of "stepping over the line" if you will.

It is on my mind because we had to do a "Eternal Security in Hebrews" project for my Hebrews - Revelation class. There are good arguments both ways, and I don't intend to choose one right now, or debate for either side. What I do want to do is ask a question.

Is the question Can I loose my salvation the wrong question to ask?...Or better question is, Is salvation only about getting into heaven?

If salvation is only about getting myself into heaven, then I suppose wondering if I can lose that salvation is a perfectly good question to ask. But if salvation begins now, and eternal life begins now, then a better question to ask would be Am I following Christ the best that I know how?

What are your thoughts?