Why is it when a person asks a question they are automatically analyzed for asking the question? Why must a person have an ulterior motive for voicing a question?
Just a few minutes ago I was told that "questions are not always just questions". To be quite honest, I think this person is correct. Sometimes questions are simply their answers. When I ask a question I do like to have answers. Not more questions. My husband is notorious for answering all questions I have with a question. It's almost like he is thinking I have some well-thought-out plan behind each question to entrap him. We've had a bunch of laughs over it in our 42-plus years of marriage.
However when I want to know about a person, I usually begin with questions rather than analyzing them and their questions. Call me naive and foolish. Call me a bit intrusive. It's just the way I am. My brain has enough trouble dealing with straight-shootin', clear-speaking folk, without trying to analyze each and every word they say. I just like to cut to the chase with most folks and ask them how they feel, think or believe about something. I like to know how they came to the conclusions they've come to in life.
Just today, I was reading the Quotable that Geoff Baggett posted for Sunday's sbcIMPACT blog. It was simply a quote by Dr. Malcolm Yarnell who'd stated we needed to teach sinners how to pray:
“As far as a ’sinner’s prayer’ … There is no way a sinner is going to be saved apart from a prayer, so sinners need to pray, and we need to teach them how.”
According to Geoff, Dr. Yarnell's quote was "in response to a question on the “sinner’ prayer” and “altar calls,” during a panel discussion at the recent Building Bridges Conference on Southern Baptists and Calvinism."
Quite a discussion ensued on the "Quotable" at IMPACT. To be honest, I was tired and truly wasn't all that lucid to go read all the stuff Dr. Yarnell said. But I did enjoy reading through the comments on sbcIMPACT's stream regarding the quote Geoff posted for dialogue. One new blogger (I'd never seen, or noticed at IMPACT or any other blog I'd frequented) posed some rather interesting thoughts on the topic and the comments in the stream, therefore I was curious as to what he might add to the discussion regarding his own salvation experience. So I asked him a few questions--completely out of curiosity, mind you. After all, folks have come to Jesus with as varied a testimony as there are individuals. And while most all Believers who claim to be born-again will attest to being saved by grace through faith, we each have had our own personal steps to the Door being opened to us.
I ask you, my reading friends, is it wrong to ask someone how they came to their saving grace conclusion? If I were to ask the following questions of you, would you be upset with me?:
- could you tell me how you were saved?
- when did you know?
- how did you know? just wondering.
If I were a lost person in search of answers, How would you answer me? Look forward to hearing your answers. selahV
