Questions in Worship That Shape Us
Tom Lawson reflects on how worship often gives us more than answers. In Scripture and in life, worship can leave us carrying questions that unsettle us, follow us home, and lead us toward fresh insight and changed lives.
- Many people come to worship looking for clear answers.
- The Bible often shows worship ending with searching questions.
- Questions can linger with us and invite deeper obedience.
By Tom Lawson
Worship and Answers
For many, worship is all about answers. Big answers. Little answers. Even ordinary answers.
โWhere can I find meaning for my life?โ
โWhere can I find a place to belong and be loved?โ
โWhere can I go when Iโm broken and empty and alone?โ
For many, worship is all about answers.
Children like answers.
โWhat is that?โ
โAre we there yet?โ
โIs it gonna hurt?โ
Sometimes college students like answers. โListen, I understand the three views you presented in class, but which one is the right one? Which one will be on the test? Which one am I supposed to believe?โ
Children go to worship mostly to find answers.
When Worship Leaves Us with Questions
But, in the Bible, worship often ends with something closer to a question than an answer.
โWhom shall I send and who will go for us?โ
โWill you leave everything and follow me?โ
A voice called, โCry out.โ And I answered, โWhat shall I cry out?โ
I like answers because I can grab them, hold them, label them, and then wrap them all up in shiny ribbons and set them in neat rows on my shelf. And, if I ever need them again I just reach up andโpop!โthereโs the answer.
The Untidy Work of Questions
Questions, on the other hand, are untidy things. They refuse to squeeze into my little boxes and keep kicking off their ribbons. They hang on my clothes and stick to my jacket. They trail behind me, following me home, and snuggle up next to me in those twilight moments between sleep and waking.
โSon of dust, what now will you do?โ
โYou who teach others, do you teach yourselves?โ
Uh, to be honest, sir, I donโt know. I just came here looking for a few good answers. And, donโt get me wrong, I got some. Really good ones, too. Not the made-up answers most people are peddling these days. But then you have to go and muddy up the waters by these questions. And, you know how it is with questions; one kind of leads to another.
โSo, just who was neighbor to that poor beaten man on the road to Jericho?โ
Which, of course, takes a few trips on a couple trains of thought and ends up something more like, โShould I have stopped to help that kid with the flat tire over on Main Street?โ
Like I said, these pesky things hang on you worse than cat hairs on a wool suit.
What Questions Ask of Us
Answers focus mostly on what I want to get out of worship. Questions prod me more about what I should be giving to worship. Answers usually make me feel better, even if they donโt change anything. Questions sometimes make me feel worse, but can lead to fresh insights and changed lives.
How was worship today?
Sometimes, I want to say, โIโm just not sure, yet. Give me some time to muddle over a question I seem to have picked up in there.โ
Tom Lawson serves on the faculty of Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri.
