Sucker punches disguised as questions

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes
Proverbs 26:4-5

I have been told that there are no stupid questions but I have learned that there are trick questions. Jesus was asked trick questions by people who wanted to trap him into making a controversial statement about such things as taxes (Matthew 22:15-22). Some questions were silly arguments about wives in heaven (Matthew 22:25) or what kind of divorce is permitted (Matthew 19:1-10).

Jesus refused to be pulled into a trap. He declined to answer the questions directly and instead elevated the conversation to matters of greater importance or exposed the petitioner’s hidden motives.

Wise Christ-followers need to use discernment when answering unexpected questions. A sincere question seeks knowledge. If your answer leads to an argument, you stepped into a trap. Such questions are unkind and rude to say the least. Their purpose is to make the other person look silly, stupid or wrong.

I have learned to step away from such traps and let the trickster have the last word. It is of no value to me nor will it advance the Kingdom to enter into foolish controversies (Titus 3:9).

So, do you answer a fool or not?

Like Jesus, we can ask questions of our own to clarify or steer the conversation to higher ground. There are no stupid questions from a sincere speaker but the argumentative, self-satisfied fool with all the answers ought not to be answered “or you will be like him yourself.”

Small beginnings

Do not despise these small beginnings,

for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…

Zechariah 4:10 (New Living Translation)

A few months ago, I casually mentioned to a deacon that we ought to open the church gym on Sunday afternoons for volleyball. I believed it would help build community among our younger members. His eyes lit up. “Let’s start right away.”

“Sure,” I said, meaning that we would set a date and do some promotion. He meant that Sunday. He purchased a volleyball got the keys to the gym and invited some people.

Our first day wasn’t that great; four people showed up (two were staff), we couldn’t find the net and there was strange odor in the gym (turned out to be gas). We pretended that there was a net and had a good time.

The following Sunday we had a net and two more people. A couple of months later, the gym is full. There are youth, children, young adults, and adults that were once young. People are rotating in and out and some are just content to watch and cheer (and laugh).

Today we launched a free lunch program to feed the children of our community and only nine kids lined up. The program is in response to the fact that Texas leads the nation in child hunger. The Baptist Standard recently reported that 22% of Texans under 18 are food insecure. This means that when food is prepared, it is usually of poor quality or an unbalanced diet leading to malnutrition and health problems.

Nine children seem hardly worth the effort but there are nine less hungry children. It also illustrates the reality only 7% of eligible children who were eligible received free summer lunches last year.

Nine is three more than we had for volleyball and tomorrow there will be more. Soon we will reach our goal of thirty and might surpass it.

Faithful servants and unsung heroes

I met some extraordinary young ministers when I was planting a Spanish-language church in New Orleans’ inner city. One young seminary couple came to a service and said they wanted to join the church even though they did not speak Spanish. They were called to foreign missions and wanted to discover if they could minister cross-culturally. They could. They sang, taught the children and did many behind the scenes tasks that led to our rapid growth and to getting a church building donated to us.

They were looking for a ministry and it eventually led to a job. He became pastor of an English-language group we started and went on to minister overseas.

Another young seminary student had a job. He was minister of music and youth in a town a short distance from NO. He wanted to do something more significant with his life so he resigned, found a secular job, and came to be our music minister. He and his fiancé provided a level of music not usually found in inner-city churches. His talents and leadership attracted other high caliber musicians. The exposure and experience he gained led to a call to be pastor of a multicultural church. He, too, went to minister overseas.

There was a female student who was finding it difficult to find a place to minister. She was called to be an Army Chaplain and needed staff experience in a Baptist church in order to fulfill a denominational requirement for endorsement. She persisted in the face of rejection until she found our church. She raised her own funding and worked full-time as children’s minister for two years. She gained valuable experience and deeply impacted our impoverished community.

During the summer she ran a day camp using youth groups from other churches. She borrowed church buses (and drivers) and took the kids to the zoo and other nice places. During the school year she led a weekly youth rally that featured local Christian bands and evangelistic youth speakers.

These students and others who came created a learning lab that was changing the lives of inner city families. They were putting their calling to work in a difficult environment of different races, deep poverty and bleak surroundings. There were disappointments and victories but, I believe God used these experiences to prepare us for future ministry.

Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things,

I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.
Matthew 25:21 (New King James Version)