HourChallenge

I am in the middle of Beyond Guilt, a very good book by George Johnson. One of the chapters in the book, titled “From Answers to Questions” asserts that tough questions can do more for us than easy answers. He writes about a father who would ask his son everyday after school, “did you ask a good question today?”. “From his father he learned that questions are holy. Preachers today…give too many answers and do not help people ask the right questions”, Johnson writes.

I agree with George here. I’ve been asking myself many serious questions for years that honestly I still don’t have good answers for. Questions can be humbling. But a humble frame of mind is an important part of a healthy soul. Humility in fact is a prerequisite for coming to and abiding in Jesus. But beyond this, these difficult and seemingly unanswerable questions somehow seem to make us more dependent on God and others.  I trust God more when I don’t have everything all neatly packaged up with all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

So what questions should we be asking when it comes to global poverty? Well, for starters, why are people dying of hunger? What role if any do I play in this situation? What economic decisions result in hunger? Who has control over these decisions? What can be done about it? What can / should I do about it? Etc.

A few months ago when I was on a business trip, I was having a difficult time figuring out how to keep my hour commitment while I was away. And then, the second night I had an idea, why not go out and talk to some of the homeless (who are everywhere in Atlanta) and ask some questions to find out their story.

In all, I spent more than 2 hours over 3 days talking to several people about what was keeping them homeless. Their answers, surprised, troubled, intrigued and stung me. It was certainly uncomfortable. But I think what I learned far outweighed the difficult and awkward feelings these conversations created. Above all I learned that they are people who want to be understood and cared about.