Questions, doubt and Consumerism

Dino inquired about what I meant by consumer in a previous post so I want to answer him over a series of posts on consumerism.

People ask questions. At least people ask me questions. I'm not sure why this is, but I do know that I ask a lot of questions myself. Years ago, in the days nintendo 64, I wasproud to provide a lot of answers. A few years later, I discovered it made more sense to ask question to people who asked me questions and they often found more satisfying answers. I'm still not good at this. (ask my friends) but leading someone to discover something will make a much bigger difference in their lives than simply giving answers. Still years later, it occurred to me that Jesus was asked a lot of questions and he often returned the favor.

To me this was a practical matter, not so much theological.

I also discovered that while I invited and encouraged questions on everything, there were parts of the churches I was working within that were, shall we say, less encouraging and open for questions.

Theology is often autobiographical. Our story, is inextricably connected to what we believe about God. This is good theology if you ask me. It's earthy, dirty, real and meaningful, not sterile, pat, or clean.

Asking questions is the act of a person who holds power. (this is a good thing.) It means that the person might be taking responsibility for their faith.

In the church people who stop asking questions have given away their power and their relationship to God over to someone else to make those decisions for them.

In that sense, often the most consumeristic churches are the churches in which no questions can be asked.