Asking Better Questions

Have you had the experience of someone asking you a question that was really just a way of saying what they wanted to say anyway and pretending they were interested? Or maybe their questions was even an insult? And maybe you could reflect on how you may have done that yourself.

In John 9 there are so many bad questions. The basic scene is that Jesus encounters a man who was born blind, cures him physically, and restores him to connection with God and community. Here are some of the bad questions:

Can’t you just feel the moral judgment in this, and the lack of compassion?

• His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” - John 9:2

People talk about the man, who is right in front of them, as if he is a specimen:

• His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” - John 9:9

Can you hear the interrogation and disrespect in how the religious leaders approach the parents:

• “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” John 9:19

Now the religious leaders come at the man with a question to which they have decided the answer:

• A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” - John 9:24

Reflect on these thoughtful words we heard on Sunday and spend some time asking for the grace to ask better questions today.

I wonder what this story would look like had better questions been asked. What if his neighbors had instead asked the blind man, “How do you feel?” What if the man had asked the crowd, “What are you afraid of?” What if the Pharisees had asked one another, “What if it’s time to change?” - Rev Lisle Gwynn Garrity @sanctifiedart