Is this a stupid question?

Hey everybody,

I came to faith in high school and immediately felt as if God was leading me to become a “Christian marriage and family counselor.” I honestly didn’t even know if there was such a thing, I just knew I had a passion to help families stay together. My parents had gone to a marriage counselor and they still ended up divorced, but they didn’t go to a Christian counselor. So, my thought was, I bet the Bible has some ideas in it that would help families, like mine, survive.

Only one problem.

I had no idea what was in the Bible. I hadn’t been a Christian very long. I had tried reading the Bible, but it wasn’t easy. So, I thought I’d go to Bible College and learn something about the Bible, and then I would transfer to a “real” school and get a “real” degree in counseling. My first year of theology classes had my head swirling. The professor seemed very knowledgeable, and I had a TON of questions.

I remember raising my hand and asking a question in that class. I don’t remember exactly what the question was, but I DO remember his answer.

“That’s a stupid question! That was settled 50 years ago!” He barked at me.

I never asked another question in that class. It wasn’t safe in there. Instead, I wrestled with the questions that I had by myself, and I gave him the answers he wanted on his exams, whether I understood them or not.

A lot of churches are like that college classroom. Either they are answering questions that nobody has, or they view sincere questions as threats to the establishment. I’ve always been passionate about creating an environment in the church where people could be “real.” You don’t have to have it all together. You don’t have to have all the answers. It’s okay to have questions. It’s even okay to question things! That’s the kind of place I want to be a part of.

Don’t you?

You have questions about the Bible. Things you don’t understand. Things that make you scratch your head and wonder. Or maybe even things that cause you to question whether you can even believe in the God of the Bible…it’s just too much!

I’m excited to tell you that your questions aren’t dumb. Others are probably wondering the same thing. Go ahead and ask!

There are two great places to take your questions at Believers.

Questions about faith, Jesus, God, what it means to follow Jesus…sign up for Starting Point. Starting Point is a great place to bring your questions, whether you are already a follower of Jesus, contemplating following Jesus, or have just recently made that decision. Listen to what others who have attended Starting Point are saying:

“Last spring, I decided to make a more intentional attempt at faith and this journey began with attending the Starting Point class.  Many of my objections to faith were rooted in parts of the Bible that I just couldn’t wrap my head around.  I would come to something that didn’t make sense to me and draw the conclusion that if I could not find the answer to that one point, how could the rest of the story be true? Attending Starting Point placed me into a community with people who were struggling with many of the same questions that had plagued me for so long.  Just having a safe place to hash out questions of faith with others who shared many of my same doubts helped me work through my objections to faith… Thanks to the foundation that Starting Point gave me, I have continued to seek a relationship with God and view faith in Jesus as a lifelong journey.”  – Ken

“It wasn’t until we, my husband and I, began Starting Point that I realized that I had some faith fundamentals that I had never made my own. Through this community, I was able to revisit concepts like “What is sin?” and “Why Jesus?” Through the rich conversations we had, my faith was truly strengthened. Not my parents’ faith, not my church’s faith, but mine.” – Kristen

You can sign up for Starting Point here.

Have questions about the Bible? The final week of our series  It’s All Greek to Me will be a Q&R, Question, and Response to the questions YOU have about the Bible. You can send your questions to [email protected]. If we don’t get to your questions on Sunday, February 13, we will answer your questions on the Made for Mondays podcast. A podcast you should definitely be subscribed to, as it is designed to help you deepen your faith and live out Sunday’s messages Monday to Saturday.

Let me go one step further. You KNOW some people that don’t go to church because they have never been in an environment where they felt safe asking questions. Maybe they used to go to church but were burned or disillusioned. Invite THEM to come to Believers for our It’s All Greek to Me series and encourage them to submit THEIR questions and to come check out the answers. Encourage them to join Starting Point so they can find answers to their questions. I promise, no one will shame them for having a question!

Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday as we talk about “How the Bible can change you.”

Blessings,

Pastor Jamey

P.S. Who will you invite? Do it now! Encourage them to submit their questions to [email protected]