Church Life Today

If you want to remain comfortable, do not let Jesus ask you questions. I learned this the hard way a few years ago when I decided that as a Lenten practice, I would spend time each day reflecting on and praying with the questions that Jesus asks in the Gospels. If you have ever looked for these, you’ll notice that he asks a lot of questions. • What are you looking for?• Why do you call me good?• How does your concern affect me?• Does this shock you?• Do you want to be well?• Have you anything here to eat?And on and on. What I found is that the more I dwelt with Jesus’ questions, the more I discovered that I was being moved by Jesus away from my own comfort zones. Those are the zones of my own thoughts, of my own vague desires, of my own expectations. Of course, I didn’t just read these questions––I read the pericopes in the Gospels where they are set. I found myself connecting these episodes and these questions to other parts of Scripture. And then I started writing. And writing. And writing. In turns out tha