Contents
May/June2005
FEATURES
The life and faith of Jackie Robinson George Mitrovich chronicles the courageous faith of a pioneer.
The tranformative power of forgivenessJohn Gordon tells the story of a father who forgave the killer of his son.
Frogs, lizards, and the mission of ChristStephen Seamands encourages the church to evangelize.
Speaking truth to the modern worldPaul Stallsworth remembers the towering strength of Pope John Paul II.
Pope embodied courage and love Linda Bloom reports on United Methodist reactions to Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II and Evangelicals Michael Cromartie interviews George Weigel, the pope's official biographer.
African churches model evangelism and growth Lesley Crosson reports on the vibrancy of African Christianity.
COLUMNS
EditorialThe cure for what ails us
Renew Women’s NetworkResponding to Jan Love's letter to RENEW
The Great CommissionWhen "Christian" does not translate
From the HeartQuestions
DEPARTMENTS
News UM theologians stress need for doctrine
“Joan of Arcadia” helps families discuss touchy topics
Bishop Earl G. Hunt Jr., church "giant," dies at age 86
Film Focus: Kingdom of Heaven
Hotel Rwanda
Questions! Do they indicate doubt and uncertainty? Do they imply that a matter is open for discussion? Do they provide something to hide behind? Are they honest or self-serving? What is the meaning of what is being asked? Is it appropriate for what is created to make any queries of the Creator? More important than all of that, how will I answer the questions God poses to me?
These are things I have pondered over the months since I first saw a devotional study by British writer Selwyn Hughes on some of the questions God asks. In Job 40:7, God sternly responds to Job with this dictate: "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me." After reading that verse, I have the urge to straighten up and blurt out "Yes, Sir!" (I mean no disrespect.)
A poem by Susan Lenzkes in the Hughes' devotional called "Quiet Time" softens my response. A few of her lines say: "The curve of our Shepherd's questions is the crook of His staff reaching to draw us to His side." So I muse over the questions God has been asking me of late. Here are two. Question 1: Isaiah 55:2. "Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy?" Why indeed? Question 2: Jeremiah 30:21. "Who is he (or she) who will devote himself (or herself) to be close to me?" Who indeed?
In thinking about answers to the questions God has been quizzing me with, I have mused about some of his profound queries to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 and 4. They are questions for every man and woman of every century. There are five of them and I believe they are questions not from a stern lawgiver, but from the Lover of our souls.
In Genesis 3:9, he asks, "Where are you?" Hughes calls this "the great theological question." For me it indicates God's longing for connection with us. How far away or close to him we are is an important issue in his heart. He wants us home. In Luke 15 he demonstrates this desire through the lost sheep that he wants on his shoulders, the lost coin that he desires in his hand, and the lost son whom he longs to be in his arms. So, where are you?
In Genesis 3:11, he asks, "Who told you?" Hughes calls this "the great truth question," the ideological query. I believe it indicates God's longing for freedom for us. So much of what we believe is a lie, a deception or a distortion, but when we operate on truth, we are free. John 8:32, 36 says "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free," and "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Whatever it is we believe about God or ourselves or anyone else, we would be wise to answer "Who told you?" Romans 1 says we can suppress the truth with wickedness or exchange the truth for a lie, but Truth is a Person. When God tells us something there is unmatched stability. So, who told you?
In Genesis 3:13, God calls us to face reality with his third question. "What have you done?" When we stop defending our image and take responsibility for personal sin, we open the door for his touch of deliverance and cleansing. Selwyn Hughes says this is "the great moral question" because we are "all caught in the headlights of God's holiness." What have you done that God would like to talk with you about? "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool" (Isaiah 1:18). The question indicates his longing for holiness in us. So, what have you done?
Hughes calls "the great psychological question" what is asked in Genesis 4:6. "Why are you angry and downcast?" I think it indicates God's longing that we be convinced that we are a treasure to him. If we can get to the root of what triggers our emotions, we can know better what is going on in the depths of our hearts. Maybe we can even stem the tide before a tsunami of unchecked emotions wreaks disaster in our personal lives. God treasures us that much. So, why are you angry and downcast?
In Genesis 4:9, God asks Cain, "Where is your brother?" Hughes calls this "the great social question." It is God's longing that we would be a priesthood of all believers-a bridge between God and man, and man and man. Jesus told us in Matthew 22:39 to "love your neighbor as yourself" and John reminds us "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). So, where is your brother?
Let us be mindful of the questions God asks. "For the curve of our Shepherd's questions is the crook of his staff reaching to draw us to his side."
"Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).
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