Repurposing Our Questions

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” - Luke 3:10-14

John the Baptist was the hip new thing back in the day, and people flooded to him with tons of spiritual questions. He led them on a journey of deconstructing their assumptions about life and God and religious practice, but he didn’t leave them with no way forward. He didn’t just help them tear down the house; he helped them build a new one.

You can see in his answers that he’s actually not being all that inventive. He’s just reframing in a contemporary way the words of the prophet from hundreds of years before him. Look at his response:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8

• Don’t collect more than you’re required to - grow in JUSTICE

• Anyone who has two shirts should share - grow in MERCY

• Don’t abuse your power, but be content - grow in HUMILITY

As you deconstruct unhelpful and unhealthy ways of thinking about and experiencing life, God and religion, you might want to think along the same ancient paths that John directs people to. What are your core questions about the spiritual journey these days? Are there ways to repurpose your questions along the lines of justice, mercy and humility?