Are you angry about all the evil in the world? Furious? Outraged? Your version of what is evil may not be the same as someone else’s but the same principles apply. What do you do with your outrage? For it has the power to consume you and will if you don’t direct it constructively. Are you doing anything about the situation to improve or resolve it? This requires concrete action. Is the issue so large that it seems beyond your ability to influence and it overwhelms you?
Do you want to please me? Do you think it is hard to do? Do you know how to do it? You may think this involves doing my will and you are right, but do you know what my will is? Perhaps you are being too hard on yourself. Are you judging yourself by corporate performance standards or by the standards of a father and his children? Which do you think applies in this case? How does this same situation play out with your own children? Isn’t their desire to please you endearing to you whether they execute it perfectly or not? The same dynamic applies with me.
Do you consider yourself to be legalistic? How do you treat the Bible? Do you see it as a law book that can be parsed out line upon line and precept upon precept? Can it be divided and selected by chapter and verse? You know people who do this. Do you think that they are the best at understanding and living the message of scripture or do they cherry pick the Bible in a way that serves their own purposes? Do they see the Bible as a sword to use against others? How successful would you expect to be in turning a book written by mystics into a book of the law? Would you want to?
Are you familiar with the passage of scripture that says, I would that you were hot or cold but because you are lukewarm I will spue you out of my mouth? Does this make sense? Isn’t something better than nothing, or is the insipid middle worse than either extreme as this passage implies? Can you think of any actual examples, especially in regard to spiritual life, where this passage may apply? Do you know people who are skeptics and unbelievers through apathy and indifference? Do you also know unbelievers who are fiercely engaged with existential questions?
Have you found that the Christian life involves suffering? Did this come as a surprise? Did you think I promised you a life free from pain? The scripture passages about persecution and chastisement are plain even if they are not your favorites. Would you accuse me of false advertising or bait and switch? Were you fully informed of all the consequences of your decision when you made it? Looking back, would you have been able to comprehend it at the time? Do you have any regrets? Blessed are those who count the cost, and pick up their cross and follow me.
Are you an effective evangelist? You are familiar with the Great Commission. Do you carry it out? How do you go about it? You consider doctrine to be important, so do you start there? Yet instruction typically proceeds from the known to the unknown, and your audience may not be able to relate to your doctrinal positions. Yet I have put a spiritual yearning in the heart of every person, a longing to seek and live in relation to a self-transcendent horizon. You have this in common with every person even if you have nothing else.
Do you want answers for your questions? Have you ever received answers that made things worse instead of better? Do you ever wish that your friends would sit with you and offer you the comfort of their silent presence rather than trying to solve your problems? Do you recall that Job’s friends sat with him a long time before they spoke? Not all questions require immediate answers. Silent presence is better than offering glib and trite platitudes. If you can see this when you are on the receiving end, does it make you hesitate to offer such advice?
Have you experienced the peace that surpasses understanding? The Bible refers to this, so this is a commonly used and understood phrase among believers. You see this peace as divinely provided because it cannot be explained in terms of circumstances, and you are right. Is there anything else that surpasses understanding? Or to reverse the logic of the question, is there any aspect of your life that isn’t touched by divine influence? So do you also have provision that surpasses understanding? Insights that did not originate with you or visible sources? How long would the list be?
Do you know anything without learning it? The assumption is that all knowledge is acquired, but John wrote to his audience and mentioned that they already knew the truth. Do you assume that this only applies to the direct audience of his letter, or since it is included in scripture speaks to all audiences universally, including you? John was a mystic and would be comfortable with the idea of knowing things that you had not learned by conventional means. Are you? I said that I created you in my image. What was imparted to you from the beginning that you didn’t have to go to school for?
Have you ever been involved in a war of nerves? Even without physical violence, threats and oppression and intimidation can cause real hindrance and harm. Have you ever been on the receiving end of this? Have you ever been the oppressor? This can occur between groups of people, and those on the receiving end are more aware than those with the upper hand. How do you defend against such an attack? It will not serve you to fight fire with fire, to attempt manipulation of your own. Stand firm in your own identity and ask of me the peace that surpasses understanding, and you will receive.
