Point of View June 2, 2026 – Hour 2 : The Art of Asking Better Questions

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson. This hour we're going to spend some time talking about the art of asking better questions. That is the topic of the book that we're going to be looking at. It is written by Dr. J.R. Briggs, who is an individual that has really been working in this area of spiritual formation.

[00:00:34] Back in 2011 started Kairos Partnerships, has served in all sorts of different pastoral roles over the years, has also taught at Higher Education, Friends University, Taylor University and others, published over 50 different articles. And Liberty McCarter in studio with me today. And Dr. J.R. Briggs, thank you for being with us today here on Point of View. Happy to be with you. You know, Liberty, I was just thinking that you and I are both in the ask-and-question business,

[00:01:03] first as a teacher, now as a co-host of Point of View. And so that is certainly the case. But for this next hour I was thinking we've had Greg Kokel on the program talking about in terms of evangelism, sometimes asking questions is a very effective way to not only get information, but help people sometimes see the logical flaws in what they believe. More recently Mark Andreessen was on Joe Rogan and talking about if you really want to be effective in a field that we just mentioned a minute ago,

[00:01:33] artificial intelligence, you need to know how to ask very important questions, don't you? Yeah, so I guess we will be put to the test this hour and see if we are good at asking questions and maybe we'll find some areas that we can improve in asking questions in our own profession. Well, Dr. Briggs, let me, if I can for just a minute, give a little more of your background, which is unfolding in the book because you really do spend a fair amount of time interacting with people and asking questions.

[00:01:59] And I think both of us can maybe sit at your feet and learn more from you. Well, I'm glad to share whatever would be helpful, but there is a vast field. And even though I've been studying this for a long time, there's so much more for me to learn as well. So I'm hoping I can learn from you in this conversation also. So one of the things that I loved that you said, Dr. Briggs, is that when you are asking questions, it's not just something else to check off on a to do list, but it really becomes a lifestyle.

[00:02:30] So I was wondering if you could explain that a little bit more because I love that idea. But it may not be very natural for us to think of question asking as a way of life. Yes. Oftentimes people think of questions as a transactional posture. But we have to remember that questions are an incredible way in which we can engage relationally with others. I think one of the best ways to describe good question asking is hospitality.

[00:02:55] It's a wonderful form of hospitality where we give people a full body. Yes. And say to them, you matter. And I want to listen and I care about what you think. And questions are a way to pull out of what is already inside of people. And it is a lost art in our culture. Right. We are known even many Christians. We are known to the outside world as those that constantly talk and tell. And we need we need that.

[00:03:23] But imagine if we were known for our questions and for our listening. I think that would do a world of good in a world that already thinks that we we might be talking too loud and too much. And so if we can have that balance, I think it can be a beautiful thing of a posture of humility, curiosity. Of course, Jesus was the way, the truth and the life. And we're people of the truth. But on top of that, we have to remember that Jesus himself asked a ton of questions.

[00:03:54] And Jesus said, I only do what I see my father doing. And what did his father do? If you look to the Old Testament, there are a ton of questions that God asks. Why would the God who knows everything feel the need to ask questions of his creation? That's a posture thing because he didn't need to know more information. He did it as a way of loving and caring and extending hospitality to us. What a God. And we get a chance to follow in that same posture.

[00:04:24] And I just might mention that in the second section of your book, you have, of course, the questions we ask, the questions God ask of us, especially in the Old Testament. How many times that God asked questions of Job? Of course, he already knew the answer or even of Adam and Eve questions. Of course, Jesus asked. He asked more questions than he answers. And then the questions we ask as well. But since you just mentioned the fact that we don't seem to do that, you've got a section here about obstacles that keep us from asking questions.

[00:04:52] Because it does seem to me that we need to get into a mindset of asking questions. And I think we need to know, don't we, why we don't seem to do that as much as we should. That's exactly right. My work, oftentimes when I'm coaching Christian leaders is to say, what's the goal? And then what are the obstacles that get in the way of that goal? And God helping us, how do we overcome those obstacles? In this case, what is the goal? The goal is we become better question askers.

[00:05:21] So it's best to say, what are the obstacles that get in the way? And there are several, but there are eight that I hit on in the book. The first one being is we just live in a culture that doesn't value it. We live in a culture that wants to have everybody looking at us and attention seeking age. Questions are the opposite. Genuine questions put the attention off of us and onto other people. And, and so the joke is, you know, enough about me. What do you think about me? Right?

[00:05:49] And so that idea of conversational narcissism as Charles Derber calls it is alive and well. So that's number one. Number two is it's what's called the trap of expertise. We already think we know. And if we already know, why would we ask? Um, it's often perceived as inefficient in our culture and in a culture of progress and efficiency and getting things done. Questions are perceived as slowing us down in a productivity oriented world.

[00:06:17] It's also not modeled very well in our culture. How can I be better at something if I don't see others do that well around me? Um, we sometimes have just a genuine lack of curiosity. Sometimes we just don't really care to know what other people think, or we fear an awkward interaction. Maybe we fear the answer. Um, sometimes I admit there are times I don't ask questions because I'm kind of afraid to know the answer to that question.

[00:06:43] Um, and sometimes we just assume people don't want to be asked why, you know, they want to be left alone. And yet we're in what has been described by a previous surgeon general as an epidemic of loneliness. And so people are constantly wanting to be asked questions. Lastly, it requires a lot of practice. There are a lot of people that say, JR, I'm already tired. Now you're asking me to do more, to learn more. You're kidding me.

[00:07:12] But the bad news is it does require some deliberate practice and some hard work. But the good news is it's worth it. It's absolutely worth it. Let me just mention when you're going to take a break and we come back, we're talking about living a Christian, a question oriented life. Some of the different levels of question asking and certainly get into some of those. But I have nothing else. Liberty appreciated the fact that we do, if we read through the Bible at all, see that God asked questions.

[00:07:40] Of course, he already knows the answer, but he uses that to get our attention. Jesus asked lots of questions more than he provided even answers for. And then, of course, then we have all sorts of questions and you've got some young ones. So I'm sure they ask you questions all the time. Oh, man. Just yesterday, my almost five year old said, what's the color of rain, mom? And just he has this amazing mind and imagination. But it's so common for me to just want to say, hold on, don't interrupt me right now.

[00:08:08] But I love that kids remind us that we are naturally question askers. And I love that this book that we're talking about right now actually gives us some practical tips for how to become question askers again. And I think it is important that we see Jesus exemplify that in scripture. So I'm excited to talk more about it. The book came out last year. You might be able to find it in your local bookstore, but we have information so that you can get it. And it is on the website pointofview.net.

[00:08:35] The art of asking better questions, pursuing stronger relationships, healthier leadership and deeper faith. We'll continue right after this. This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:06] You know, with estimates that the federal deficit will increase this year, we're once again hearing comments about making the rich pay their fair share. Even if we set aside the moral arguments, there's still the reality that attempts to soak the rich haven't generated tax revenues promised by progressive politicians. To illustrate this, look at one of the most boring graphs in economics. If you plot federal government revenue as a percentage of GDP, you get approximately a horizontal line. This is what has come to be known as Hauser's Law.

[00:09:36] 30 years ago, investment analyst Kurt Hauser wrote that no matter what the tax rates, the tax revenues remained at approximately the same percentage. If you plot the top individual tax rate, you will see how tax rates and tax revenues are not connected. In the 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was 90%. President Reagan slashed the tax rate to 50%. Today's top rate is 37%. Throughout these fluctuations, the percentage of tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was around 17 to 19%.

[00:10:06] Here's a link to a Wall Street Journal commentary from 15 years ago that includes the graph. The author argues that Hauser's Law should become as central to economics as Boyle's Law is to the physics of gases. Unfortunately, most politicians are unaware of it. Progressive politicians are convinced that if you increase tax rates, you will increase tax revenue. I won't bore you with other graphs, but generally the inverse is true. Raising the rates for income tax, capital gains tax, and inheritance tax usually generate less revenue.

[00:10:35] The current debate about taxes and spending could use some wise economic insights found in a horizontal line on a graph. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net.

[00:10:57] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Continue our conversation today about the art of asking questions with Dr. J.R. Briggs. Certainly, Liberty McCarter in studio. And Liberty, I think there are just so many great questions we can ask of a person writing books about questions.

[00:11:19] Yes, and one of the things, Dr. Briggs, you said a minute ago just on the obstacles to us asking questions, especially in that section on relationships with other people, is that often we assume people don't want to be asked. And I think that that is so true, and we let our, you know, I'm a naturally shy person, so I really resonate with that, and I get all in my head even if maybe I feel prompting from the Holy Spirit to start a conversation with someone.

[00:11:46] So I thought this was so fascinating about how people really enjoy being able to talk about themselves, and there's even a scientific reason behind that. So if we want to address loneliness and things like that, we really should talk to other people about themselves, shouldn't we? Yes. I mean, I think one of the best gifts we can give people is to be able to just say, what is your story? Most people just don't have a lot of people asking them, what is your story? Tell me your story.

[00:12:16] It's amazing what happens. Even people I've known for a long time, when I just say, tell me, you know, what is your story? And I go, what? I had no idea about that. And so I just think it becomes a wonderful gift we can give to people. And, you know, we can take it too far and people can talk too much about themselves. But I think that, you know, just giving people a chance to do that. I keep going back to the word hospitality, but it is.

[00:12:43] It's making people feel welcome to be able to share about who they are, their hurts, their joys, their passions, their fears. I think in this AI world that we live in, the question of what does it mean to be human is going to become more and more important. Yes. And part of being human means opening up and asking questions and sharing our stories with people, which is something that AI cannot do.

[00:13:07] It cannot generate a story of meaning, an identity about who somebody is. Yeah. Let's see if we can talk about these four levels of questions because that, I think, helps people. Most of the time we get just into questions for information, simple facts. But then you talk about questions for interaction, which gets into what Liberty is talking about, thoughts and emotions, questions for understanding feelings and desires.

[00:13:33] And then finally, you know, you can get into the deep end, questions for transformation, vulnerability and intimacy. And I think that might be helpful because there are all sorts of questions, but not all questions are the same, are they? That's exactly correct. There are some times where people just think, well, I'll just ask a bunch of questions. And you go, well, we've got to be more thoughtful about that. And so much of asking questions, you know, there are four essential elements to asking a great question.

[00:14:02] You have to have curiosity, you have to have wisdom, you have to have humility, and you have to have courage. A part of the wisdom piece is learning and assessing what is the context that I know this person in. Is it somebody in my own family that I've been with for years? Is it somebody I just met last week or five minutes ago? All of that requires wisdom to know the kind of level of question that I can engage in.

[00:14:27] I think we've all been in conversations with people where we go, oh, that's a little too personal. You know, that's I'm not ready for that. It's because they jumped to a level that we had not developed trust in on the level before. You can't go to level two unless you've been to level one. You can't go to three unless you've been to two and you can't go to four unless you've been at three. So it's kind of like entering a lake. You know, you can't or the ocean. And you can't just like go in and start swimming.

[00:14:56] You have to enter in ankle deep. Ankle deep are those level one questions, simple facts. And when there's enough trust and rapport and context developed relationally, then I can go to level two, which is kind of knee deep or thigh deep. And level three may be chest deep. I'm still touching the bottom. I'm surrounded by water. It's here. But level four is where I'm able to swim out and I can no longer touch the bottom. And it's a little bit scary, a little bit more vulnerable, but it's a wonderful place to be.

[00:15:26] And so I think we need to understand the different levels and have the wisdom to be able to know which level are we at and the courage to then say, I think it's time to go to another level here. And those can be helpful ways in which we engage with people. And by the way, the goal is not to get everyone to level four. Level four is reserved for a small group of people in our lives. This could be a pastor, a spouse, a best friend for years and years, a therapist.

[00:15:57] That's a small circle there where you are plumbing the depths of human experience. And it requires immense trust and courage. And it's reserved for just a small circle of our closest relationships. And so we need people at all four levels. But the goal isn't just to push everybody to level four. Hmm. That that's so practical. And I appreciate that. And there's an illustration in the book to describing what you were just talking about.

[00:16:20] And I think that can be very practical for people, even in just building friendships, because I know that there is a longing that a lot of people have, especially young people to build quality friendships. But as you know, in multiple places throughout the book, people don't really know how to do that all the time if it's not modeled for them. So I appreciate just the wisdom there of knowing the context and taking that one level at a time in a relationship.

[00:16:46] But another practical point you make is listening. And if you ask good questions, but you don't know how to be a good listener, then you kind of fail at the assignment. And I love how you even talk about what the word listening means. So can you talk about that? Yeah. I mean, listening, it's it's an amazing idea in Chinese. It's a it's a symbol that's a mixture between eyes, ears and heart, which I love that idea of having it mixed together on that.

[00:17:16] And, you know, some people have said your your life speaks so much. I can hardly hear your words. And in many ways, there's a lot of a lot of truth to that. I was just on a coaching call earlier today and talking with someone about Calvin Coolidge. Now, I don't know much about the former president, Calvin Coolidge, but his nickname was called Silent Cal. Right. Right. Because he hardly ever spoke. Mm hmm. And one of the things he said, and it's a fantastic quote.

[00:17:44] And they said, why are you so quiet? Why do you listen so much? And he said, no one ever listens their way out of a job. Mm hmm. And I've thought about that quite a bit because people can talk their way out of a job. They can say something stupid, but very rarely can someone listen their way out of a job. And I think that's part of that hospitality of listening and asking questions. There's a term in the research that I came across that made me chuckle. And it was the word boomer asking.

[00:18:14] And it doesn't mean boomer in the boomer generation, people asking questions. But just like a boomerang where you would throw it and it whips right back. A boomer ask is where you ask a question. The person is about to answer it, but then you interrupt them and answer your own question that you just asked. Mm hmm. And I think we've all been in those situations where some are someone boomer asked with us. Mm hmm. And in the boomer asking, it's really we feel kind of hurt.

[00:18:42] You know, we feel very devalued. And to say, oh, they didn't really want to ask a question to know my answer. They asked a question to tee up for themselves something they wanted to tell us. Yeah. And that can be really demeaning to people. And so we want to be really careful that if we ask a really good question to be quiet enough to let them answer. And then the next level of that is to learn to ask really good follow up questions like, oh, wow.

[00:19:11] Have you always felt that way? Or that's interesting. Tell me more. And oftentimes what's the better question is the follow up question, not the first question. And so if we can avoid boomer asking and be thoughtful and intentional about follow up questions, it's amazing what can come out. I love your illustration that somebody says, well, I saw this good documentary on turtles. And one guy says, well, I'm not big on documentaries. I'm more of an action flyer. And so that kind of kills it instead of saying turtles.

[00:19:40] Well, how did you happen to be listening to that? And why are you into turtles? And and those are the kinds of follow up questions, which really for those of us in the talk show business is what I call talk show gold. You sometimes find some really great responses if you follow their logic to what the next statement might be. So we have some more questions for you, but we also look at the clock and we're just about out of time for this segment. So if you can hang in there, which I know you're going to want to spend an entire hour on this book.

[00:20:10] And this is, again, the book called The Art of Asking Better Questions, Pursuing Stronger Relationships, Healthier Leadership and Deeper Faith. If you find yourself saying, I'd like to get a copy of the book, of course, we have information about that. We also have information about J.R. Briggs, if you'd like to know about him. And of course, he's an author, a teacher, a coach, podcast host, all sorts of ways you can connect up with him. We've made it pretty easy.

[00:20:35] And you can go to the website pointofview.net and find that information as well. When we come back, we'll get into some others. I'd love to certainly get into some of the questions we ask. What about the questions God asks us or especially asks in especially the Old Testament and the New Testament? Of course, think of all the questions Jesus asked. And then, of course, how to be a person of questionable.

[00:21:00] I love how he puts that together influence so that you can begin to apply some of these principles. Fascinating book published by our good friends at InterVarsity Press. And if you find yourself saying, I'd like to know a little bit more, let me encourage you to go to the website pointofview.net. And I think you'll find what you need there. And if you look for the book in the local bookstore, it's been there for a while. So if you can't find it, we make it easy for you to order. And we'll be right back.

[00:21:24] I'm sure that you've noticed that social media is now filled with information generated by AI. Dramatic descriptions of politicians and music stars supposedly making statements about a current issue. Leaning into the microphone, looking into the lens, opponents silenced.

[00:21:51] It's powerful, it's riveting, and it's all lies. Even several national television networks were recently found using enhanced pictures, meaning manipulated, falsified, literally not giving a true picture. So many liars, so much deception. Where can we turn for truth? Right here from Kirby and the team at Point of View. We need your support.

[00:22:19] Please join the Point of View Truth team today with a monthly gift of $30 or more. Together, we can shine the light of truth and dispel the darkness and deception of this day. Give now at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151. Pointofview.net and 800-347-5151.

[00:22:46] Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:15] Back once again as we talk about the book, The Art of Asking Better Questions. Dr. J.R. Briggs with us, author, teacher, coach, podcast host, of course, the founder of the Kairos Partnerships, and in studio with me today, Liberty McCarter. So I just love part two of this book, Dr. Briggs, because really that digs into how asking questions can strengthen our faith in several different ways.

[00:23:39] But first, we need to understand something that I think is so helpful to know is that we all are really asking ourselves some fundamental questions about God and about ourselves and about life. And everybody's asking these questions even if they don't realize it. And it seems to me that just acknowledging this and bringing that to mind can be a great conversation starter. Yeah, I mean, every world religion basically is trying to answer three questions. Like, who is God?

[00:24:08] Who are we? How do we live? And, of course, the Christian story, we know this God as a loving God who came down in the form of Jesus. Who are we? We are valued people with the image of God stands upon us, and how are we to live in faithful and reverence and thankful obedience and humility to this king and his kingdom?

[00:24:30] And so those big three questions that they're the foundation not just of religion but philosophy, education, art, literature, and a lot of that drives the story that we find ourselves in. Our identity, our meaning, and our purpose are wrapped up into those questions as well. So, yeah, we are asking questions whether we know it or not. And I think that's really important to start there. I mean, I've recently read a story in Arthur Brooks' new book, The Meaning of Your Life.

[00:24:58] He talked about Coco who was this gorilla born in the San Francisco Zoo in 1971. And everyone was amazed around the world at all that Coco could do. She set out, you know, to do some kind of amazing things. And over four decades, Coco learned over a thousand words for signing. And so there was a lot of communication between Coco and humans and became an international celebrity because of it. But Coco died, I think it was in 2018.

[00:25:27] And millions of people mourned about a mourn Coco's loss. Even an obituary appeared in the New York Times. What's interesting is that Coco captured the imaginations of people all over the world. And it was not that she was actually writing poetry or composing speeches, but her development of her vocabulary of this language between humans and gorillas is fascinating.

[00:25:53] But Coco was capable of understanding that her environment of her environment and expressing her wants. But there was one thing that Coco could never do with language, not even once. And most people never noticed it. It's that Coco never asked a single question. And I think what's really important to remember is that the first habit of people with meaningful lives is they ask a lot of questions.

[00:26:19] And a life that is not deeply questioned is bereft of meaning, as Arthur Brooks says. So it's the willingness and the capacity to wonder and to inquire about things large and small that are what make us uniquely human. That God made us in his image. And part of being in his image is that we are made to ask questions and to wonder about simple questions, but also the deepest questions of life. Like, who is God? Who are we? How are we to live?

[00:26:48] Yeah, that is so great. I am totally with you. And earlier you said in this age, really the big question that so many of us are asking or going to ask is what does it mean to be human? And I love this connection of asking questions is what it means. And that reminds me of something else in your book where when we ask questions or choose not to, we can either see our world expanded or really shrink or stay the same.

[00:27:18] And so I just I love that acknowledgement of how questions form us and our interaction with the world God has given us. Yeah, and there's a lot to be said, like everybody's asking questions. People say, no, I don't ask that many questions. You know, that inner voice we have. Everybody's got the inner voice. The best thing we can do is to identify those inner voice questions that we're asking of God, ourselves and others.

[00:27:44] And the quality of the questions that we ask God, ourselves and others will determine the quality of our lives. There's no other way around it. And so it's very important we first identify what are those questions. And second of all, are those the kinds of questions that are of meaning and depth and significance and purpose that will help us understand who we are in light of who God thinks we are? Yeah, absolutely.

[00:28:14] You know, one of the things that I think is so cool in the Bible is that Jesus demonstrates really what it means to be human in the perfect sense. And we've alluded to this a little bit, but let's dig into it a little bit more how he asks questions of his disciples. And he says, you know, he's doing what his father has done. And God asked questions throughout the Old Testament. So in some of those questions, talk us through again.

[00:28:43] God already knows everything. Jesus knows everything. Why are they asking questions of their followers? Yeah. So when when God asks in Scripture to Adam and Eve, where are you? He clearly knows where they are. This wasn't a geographical question. This was a relational question. This this is designed to draw them out of their hiding. I think of the time I tell us in this in the story in the book, I've got two teenage sons.

[00:29:12] But when they were younger and we used to play hide and go seek in the house, I'd see their little toes looking out from under the couch in the back or the chair in the corner. And I would say, where where are you? And of course, they would like giggle and laugh. And of course, I knew where they were. But I think if I can pinpoint why they're giggling and laughing, it's that feeling we have of knowing someone is pursuing us. And there's something that questions do in that.

[00:29:41] And sometimes I imagine it was a little scary for Adam and Eve, a little different than playing hide and go seek with dad. But it's this idea that when questions are being asked, sometimes it's for information, but sometimes it's for incision to get them to think about something. But it's also a desire for relationship.

[00:30:02] Even when I'm at church and I'm interacting with a, you know, six or eight or nine year old little girl or boy, I will ask questions that I already know the answer to. Mm hmm. Their mom and dad told me that they, you know, play their little league game on Saturday, whatever. But I'll say, Isaac, how'd your little league game go on Saturday? I know the answer to it. But what I'm trying to do is show Isaac that I care, that I want to hear how did it go. And so it isn't just for information.

[00:30:31] It's for connection. It's for challenge. It's for getting me to help them think a little bit differently and to develop trust with them. So I think, you know, God asks through the angel to Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going? God knew that. To Elijah, he says, what are you doing here? God knew that. To Sarah, he said, is anything too hard for the Lord? God knew the answer to that. To Moses, what's in your hand?

[00:30:58] He wasn't needing to know what was in Moses's hand. He was needing Moses to know what was in Moses's hand. And that's really important. And you mentioned earlier the book of Job. Job contains, the whole book contains over 300 questions. In fact, it's the most question dense book in the Bible. Right. And when God finally responds to Job's suffering and accusations, he doesn't provide direct answers.

[00:31:25] In fact, he unleashes over 60 rhetorical questions across five chapters. Yep. Demonstrating his power and his mystery by humbling Job and his limited understanding. And what's significant is that Job never received a direct answer to his questions about suffering he asked God. But instead, God offered something better. And that was his presence.

[00:31:50] And he reminds Job of the vastness of his wisdom and his power. But I'll be with you, Job. I'll be with you. And I think that's oftentimes what questions do is it communicates that God is present or others are present with us more than knowing the answer. How about when someone dies, someone close to us? And we say, why? I don't understand. Well, it's not the best time for someone to theologically say, well, here's why. Let me break it down for you.

[00:32:17] No, sometimes they just need us to hold them and hug them and cry with them and not say anything at all. Because what they need in that moment is presence. What they need in that is to know they're not alone. And that is what God is so good at doing, of teaching, reminding, challenging, but also using that as a way to communicate his love and his presence with his creation. Let's take a break.

[00:32:44] Let me just, again, give you some of those numbers because maybe this will encourage you to begin to ask more questions. We just talked about, of course, the book of Job. 60 different rhetorical questions over five chapters from Job 38 to chapter 42. How about the New Testament? Well, about 15% of the sentences in the New Testament end in a question mark. About 1,000 questions if you look at it in the Greek New Testament.

[00:33:11] You talk about the number of questions Jesus asked. More than 300. There's always a disagreement about that number based on which ones you merge together. But if indeed you see so many questions in the Bible and these are modeled by God and Jesus, maybe it's something we should develop in our own lives. So that's one of the reasons we're talking about this book, The Art of Asking Better Questions. We'll take a break. Come back with some final comments right after this.

[00:33:40] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back for a few more minutes as we talk about The Art of Asking Better Questions,

[00:34:07] Pursuing Stronger Relationships, Healthier Leadership and Deeper Faith. And Liberty with me as we are finishing off our conversation today with Dr. J.R. Briggs and just some great practical help to help us all be better at asking very important questions. Oh, yeah. There's just really a wealth of resources in this book. Multiple kinds of questions you can ask in the correct context as we talked about.

[00:34:30] And one of those is using it, using questioning as a way to study the Bible. So, Dr. Briggs, if you wouldn't mind just sharing about that, I think sometimes, you know, we need a way to maybe revive our Bible study or go deeper. And so there's a method where we can really approach the Bible from a position of asking questions. Yes. And sometimes, initially, people get a little defensive in talking about this. Are you doubting the Bible?

[00:35:00] And I say, well, I'm not asking that we question the Bible, but that we ask questions of the Bible. And to me, those are different. Yes. And here's why this is important. As a Christian, I studied overseas in Jerusalem at Jerusalem University College right on Mount Zion, a study abroad program with other Christian colleges around the nation. And it changed my life. On Friday mornings, we studied with a rabbi from 9 to noon, and it was called Jewish Thought and Practice.

[00:35:30] And one of the things that the rabbi taught us was he said in Christian context that we often view Scripture to be viewed almost like we visit a museum, like a history museum, where things are behind glass. We walk around quietly. We read the placards. We move around and we see it. And there's benefit to that. But he said in a Jewish context, the way we learn is much more like a children's museum. And in a children's museum, what do you do? You put things on. You try them on.

[00:36:00] You build stuff. You make paper airplanes. You get wet. You know, you push buttons. You have things light up. And he says what we do with that is when we ask questions, we're basically like we're going to a children's museum. We're engaging with the text, not questioning it out of doubt, but asking questions as a way of learning deeper. And he taught us something called Chavruta. And it's a little bit hard to say. You kind of have to clear your throat a little bit.

[00:36:27] But Chavruta looks like Chavruta, C-H-A-V-R-U-T-A. And it means friendship or conversation partner. And what they would do in Jewish yeshiva or like Bible school, Bible college is how we think about it, is instead of having someone lecture up front, you would actually, the rabbi would do some of that, but more facilitate it and say, I want you to wrestle with the text by asking questions about what you read.

[00:36:54] And he had us do this exercise where he said, I'd like you to get together. And we looked at the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. And what they call the adekah, which means the binding of Isaac, not the sacrifice, but the binding of Isaac in a Jewish context. He said, I'd like you to just this next week, write out a hundred questions that you have about that story. Read the story in Genesis and write a hundred questions. And I thought, I could probably think of seven. I mean, a hundred?

[00:37:24] How am I going to generate a hundred? But he said, I want you to talk to others. I want you to actually ask questions of other people and your classmates and then bring it back. Don't give any answers, just your name at the top and a hundred questions. And I'll tell you, I learned more from that exercise and all the sermons I've ever heard about the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac of things like the, how old was Isaac?

[00:37:52] Um, what did the servants do when, uh, Abraham said, you stay here and we'll go up the rest of the way of the mountain. Um, what was that conversation like, uh, when he got down off the mountain with the servants? What'd you guys talk about? What'd you do up there? Mm-hmm. And then this one startled me. How come there's no other recorded interaction between Abraham and Sarah after that incident of him sacrificing Isaac?

[00:38:21] All of a sudden, my mind is opened up. My heart is thinking I'm engaging with this passage in a way I haven't engaged before. And so again, it's not to bring doubt into the process. It's simply that we can ask questions and say, Holy Spirit, would you help me wrestle with this? Would you help me think through this to engage on a deeper level than maybe we've done before by simply approaching it with answers? Wow. Uh, yeah. Just a wonderful practical tip.

[00:38:51] I'm going to try that. It's just exciting thinking about it. But, you know, one of the other things that you talk about is spending more time with children. And I mentioned that a minute ago. But when you mentioned the imagery of the children's museum again, I just thought, wow, that in itself gives a whole new meaning to Jesus saying you must become like a little child again to enter the kingdom of heaven. And so I've just, I thank you for that connection. I really appreciated that. Yeah. Well, it's amazing.

[00:39:20] Children are the best question askers on the planet. In fact, research was done in the UK that said that the person who asked the most questions is a four year old girl. And I find that to be fascinating. Yeah. And we have two sons, but I've been around four year olds in general, but especially girls. It makes sense. And so when Jesus says, unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

[00:39:45] We often think, oh, because they're innocent and they're dependent and they express their emotions without hiding it all true. But if that's the best question asker, and Jesus said, we're supposed to become like that. And could it be asking questions of God, ourselves and others, something kids are so good at that, Rudy, you mentioned the question, what is the color of rain? That's a great question that adults wouldn't think of.

[00:40:10] We need a kid to generate that question to be able to help us think, yeah, what color is rain? How would I answer that? And I think that's a trivial question, but a deeper question of being able to ask God with openness, curiosity, courage, wonder, because these kids literally are seeing the world with fresh eyes.

[00:40:33] Can we see the kingdom of God with fresh eyes too, to generate some of that wonder that we had when we were young? Let me just mention real quickly that the book, of course, is the art of asking better questions. There are some great practical suggestions like keeping a questions journal and how to ask questions. Some of you that maybe teach a small group might say, well, this would be very good for my small group.

[00:40:59] There's a discussion guide, questions to ask ourselves, discussion questions for faith communities, fascinating facts about the question Jesus asked, as well as just some great material that would be helpful to you. So whether you go through the book individually, whether you want to go through it with a group, it is published by our good friends at InterVarsity. Again, you might be able to find it in a local bookstore.

[00:41:24] It came out many months ago, but we have a link to it available on our website at pointofview.net. And Dr. J.R. Briggs, thank you so very much for teaching all of us around the table and in the listening audience how to ask better questions. It's been a great conversation, and thank you for joining us today. Well, thanks for your kindness. It's been a joy. Thanks for having me. You know, Liberty, these are the kinds of things that we're all working on.

[00:41:49] We're all a work in progress, and you and I live in the world of asking questions, and maybe today we learned a little bit better how to ask even more significant questions. Yeah, this is really a great just practical tool. Again, I reiterate that. Get it for your small group or your book club because we talk all the time about restoring a biblical worldview in our culture.

[00:42:11] But we can, I think, apply some of these tips that we've talked about and that are in the book to really ask questions of the world around us, of our neighbors, of ourselves, of the Bible, and gain that deeper understanding. So I'm going to keep digging into it and keeping this on hand. It's a great resource. I think, again, this is going to help you in terms of Bible study because you'll start asking questions maybe you never ask. It'll make you a more interesting person. I think it'll also open up great opportunities for evangelism.

[00:42:38] So, nevertheless, one last time, you can go to our website, pointofview.net, and find out a lot more. The Art of Asking Better Questions, Pursuing Stronger Relationships, Healthier Leadership, and Deeper Faith. Go to the website, pointofview.net. As you go there, you're going to find all sorts of resources that we make available to you, but especially this book, which, again, is about 200 pages, well-written, and it will certainly help you in your Christian life. And you've been listening to Point of View.

[00:43:14] Where does moral truth come from? According to 58% of Americans, individuals determine moral truth. A quarter of Generation Z says society determines moral truth, and morality can even change over time. Only 42% of Americans believe that truth comes from God. I don't know about you, but I find these numbers extremely troubling. It really is a crisis of truth, and that crisis has consequences. Look at society.

[00:43:43] Evil is called good. Good called evil. People with biblical beliefs are called bigots. Or worse, they're canceled. But there is hope. The Bible promises the truth will set us free. And that's why Point of View is relentless in our commitment to the ultimate source of moral truth, God's Word. At Point of View, we know that God's truth is eternal. And if we stand together, we can help more Americans apply His truth in their daily life.

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