The power of ‘Dunno, what do you reckon?’

What should we do when confronted with difficult questions about the faith?

For many Christians the fear of encountering such questions keeps them from being public about their Christianity, but such fears needn’t paralyse us. Here are two ways of engaging even when you don’t know ‘The Answer’.

‘Dunno!’

Before he converted from Buddhism, Ellis Potter had many long conversations with Francis Schaeffer. Potter now pinpoints one answer from Schaeffer that had more effect than any other: ‘I don’t know.’ It was Schaeffer’s ‘I don’t know’s that gave weight to the other things Schaeffer said with certainty.

So, first of all, admit your ignorance. Say ‘I don’t know’. You can then say: ‘Good question, can I do some digging and come back to you?’ This communicates several things: 1. You’re not making this stuff up as you go along; 2. Your Christianity is not a house of cards, threatened by one pointed critique; 3. There are sources for your faith which you can consult; 4. You care about your friend enough to do some homework; and best of all; 5. You can meet again and have another chat about Jesus, this time with some newly-acquired Bible truths up your sleeve. For these reasons it might be worth saying ‘I don’t know’ even if you do have an answer!

‘What do you reckon?’

Here’s my second piece of advice. What should you do with difficult questions? Ask them! If it’s good enough for Jesus – who asked hundreds of questions in the Gospels – it must be good enough for us. Jesus ‘knew what was in a man’ (John 2:12) but that never stopped him from asking. How much less should we presume to know what’s motivating our friends when they put their questions to us?

In general we can ask questions like: ‘What makes you ask that?’; ‘Have you always felt the weight of this objection?’; ‘What do you think the answer is according to your worldview?’; ‘Is this a question or doubt that keeps you from investigating Jesus?’; ‘Would there be a way of keeping your question and asking it from within the Christian faith?’

Comebacks on hot buttons

And then, let me list a few comeback questions you can ask on some of the hot-button issues of our time:

On sexual ethics: What do you think sex is for? What do you think #metoo and other abuse scandals have revealed about the power and dangers of sex?

On transgender issues: It’s so tricky, do you know how best to help those with gender dysphoria? When mind and body don’t align, what is the way forward, do you think?

On science and faith: Do you think science and faith are enemies? Is there only one way to look at the natural world?

On suffering: What examples of suffering make you ask the question most? What’s the least bad understanding of suffering – the one that offers the most amount of understanding, comfort and hope?

On hell and judgment: When you think of hell and judgment, what pictures spring to mind and where have they come from? What do you make of Martin Luther King’s belief that the arc of history bends towards justice?

On Old Testament wars: Are you a thorough-going pacifist or do you see a place for just wars? Where have you got those beliefs from and what do you make of Jesus’ views on the subject?

On hypocritical Christians/church scandals: What examples do you have in mind? Do you think hypocrisy/abuse is a Christian problem or a human one? Where can we find healing for our hypocrisy/ abuse?

Above all, relax! Christianity is not a house of cards and you are not its lone defender. Even if you had devastating arguments up your sleeve your friend would be unlikely to remember them the next day. Mostly they will remember how you treat them. And if you welcome them as well as their questions, if you shoot up an arrow prayer and offer a friendly ‘Dunno, what do you think?’, you might be surprised at where God takes the conversation.