“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you."
Matthew 7:7
Today, I'm thankful that The United Methodist Church taught me that asking questions deepens one's faith.
My denomination of origin was the Assembly of God and in the era of my childhood, they were rather leery of The United Methodist Church. Outsiders often accuse United Methodists of not really having any firm beliefs surrounding Christian doctrine.
This is not true.
Our doctrinal standards are located in our Articles of Religion that were passed down (although edited and abbreviated) from John Wesley and the Church of England. We also inherited the similar Confession of Faith from our Evangelical United Brethren Heritage in 1968. These core beliefs haven't changed but our usage and interpretation of them is more contextual through time.
United Methodists are encouraged to ask questions and we are less likely to lift up doubt as a sin.
I remember my campus minister at Oklahoma State University, Dr. John Rusco, telling his own story about how he came to faith in The UMC. He also was raised in a different tradition and as an adolescent, when he started asking questions, he was told, "We don't ask those kind of questions here."
This discouraged him enough to stop attending church.
He was driving by a United Methodist Church one day and saw the message on their marquee after the sermon title, "Questions welcomed following the service."
He attended that Sunday to determine if this was, in fact, true.
After worship, he visited with the pastor who seemed delighted to engage in theological discussion with the young Rusco. John said that he found a home that day.
If our faith is true, we needn't be afraid to ask questions. It will stand up to testing and the testing of doctrine or Biblical interpretation is not the same as testing God (which of course, Jesus frowned on).
As I pursued my studies, I found in Family Systems Theory that questions and especially probing questions, were helpful in breaking down unhealthy triangles (small relationship dynamics between three people).
As you move through Lent, what questions do you have about the stories of Jesus that we study? We become especially mindful during this time about suffering and the human condition. How do we participate in suffering and how can we help alleviate it? How does this effectively share the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world today?
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| This was taken from the Marysville UMC website. |
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