In the show “The Chosen,” the character Nicodemus is a highly respected teacher of his faith. He has wealth, status, family, community, and many comforts of life. But early in the series he realizes that the faith he holds so dear is not bearing the fruit he always expected it to. He hungers for further revelation of God and when he merely questions if Jesus is potentially a further revelation of God, Nicodemus is met with hateful resistance from what he thought were his peers and friends.
Shmuel: “I learned from the very wisest.” Nicodemus: “… You have learned nothing from me.”
I believe a number of questions are not a threat to faith but can in fact strengthen your faith. If what you believe in cannot take a few questions then that is a strong indication that perhaps your belief system could use some improvement.
I am not Catholic, but many qualities about the Catholic faith appeal to me. One of the best experiences I have had on my journey exploring Catholicism is the openness of Catholic individuals to exploring difficult questions. There are no “bad” or faithless or shameful questions. I have never received a dirty look or an eye roll or other negative response from asking questions or discussing a specific topic. And when I do ask questions and receive an answer that blows my mind and leads to more questions there is continued grace.
I believe an openness to questions and to a hunger to learn more is a “good fruit.” Nicodemus was disappointed to find himself so alone in finding what he believed to be a potential answer to every question he had ever sought an answer to in his life. He expected his peers to bear good fruit and to be encouraging of his journey for the truth but they were not. Yet Nicodemus did not let them silence his questions and his pursuit of the truth. In one The Chosen episode, when Nicodemus’ peers were not open to his questions he took his questions straight to Jesus. Nicodemus persisted in his quest for truth and it lead him to all that he hoped to discover – to God and to people whose lives and souls and “fruit” were dramatically transformed by their encounters with God.
I believe most honest and good natured questions are only perceived to be a threat by those who don’t want to be honest with themselves or others. If your questions are received with hatefulness like Nicodemus’ questions were then perhaps it is not your questions that are the problem but your perception of who you thought had the answers that needs improvement. Sometimes, like Nicodemus, you need to take your questions straight to Jesus – you need to take your questions to where the voice of your questions is welcome. You’ve got this
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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