Can you at least use Rhetorical Questions and Exhortations during a sermon, my Hardshell brothers, if you are not going to do it at the end of a sermon? Will you challenge your hearers with them? Will you provoke them to draw conclusions in their own minds by soul penetrating questions, by a Socratic method? Will you be passionate and forceful in your exhortations and appeals? Were not Jesus, the prophets and apostles, very good at this? Why not follow their example? Not only these, but since their time, who was better at filling up his sermons with rhetorical questions and exhortations than Charles Spurgeon?
It is said that Christ asked over three hundred questions in his discoursing, though some put the number smaller. Still it is immense. Why does Jesus and the biblical writers ask so many questions rather than just spouting answers? I have written on this before in talking about the Socratic method. This kind of teaching involves getting hearers to participate with their hearts and minds in the discourse. It forces the mind to make decisions, to draw inferences and conclusions, to do more than just listen to statements of theory and fact. Oftentimes Jesus would involve his hearers in his discourse by asking such questions as "which is greater?" Or, "what good is it?" Or, "to what can we compare this?" Etc. It was more homiletic, more casual talk, what some call "Conversational teaching and evangelism."
Forget eloquent language and high speech. Go for common language, for the vernacular as much as possible. Speak in the language of the common man, in a way he can understand. We do not want people to believe what we say simply because they have judged us as credible to believe. Lots of cult leaders have become leaders because the people put their faith in the man rather than in what he says.
Paul spoke of this phenomenon when he referred to those whose religious belief "stands in the wisdom of men." (I Cor. 2:5), believing a thing upon credibility alone, and upon a source that is not credible. "Consider the source" is good advice. A good speaker should say "don't believe it simply because I am saying it, but check it out for yourself." A cult leader says, "trust me, I know what I am talking about. God has given me revelation."
Said Dr. Steven Lawson (here - emphasis mine):
"There is a penetrating power in asking questions. Great teachers ask questions. Great preachers raise questions because questions cause people to think. Rather than giving you the answer, the raising of the question forces you to come up with the answer. Some questions are intended to gain information like, "What time did you arrive? When did you leave home?" That's to secure information. But other questions known as a rhetorical question are really a statement intended to give the answer in the form of a question."
Well, if there is so much "penetrating power in asking questions," then why are there not more of them in our preaching? Especially should our Hardshell brothers consider these questions about questions. Surely the questions we ask of our audiences, in the manner of Christ and the apostles, are not "foolish and unlearned questions." Surely they are rather "wise and learned questions."
Lawson said:
"And this is not unusual for Paul. And I want to draw this to your attention. I, actually yesterday, as I was flying back from Los Angeles sat on the plane and started in Romans 1 and brought it forward to Romans 8. And I thought, "You know, I'm just going to add up the questions." So, in Romans 7, there are seven questions. That's a lot of questions in just one chapter in the Bible. In Romans 3, are you ready for this? There are fifteen questions that Paul asks in Romans chapter 3. And in Romans 4, there are five questions. In Romans 6, there are seven questions. Romans 7, there are five questions. And here in Romans 8, there are eight questions. So, when you add all this up, it's a total of forty-seven questions that Paul raises as he writes to the church in Rome. And they are all intended to teach doctrine, to teach theology, and also to make application to our lives."
How do we measure up to Christ and the apostles with our questions in teaching, either as a parent, soul winner, or preacher? How many questions are there addressed to the hearers and disciples in the course of your teaching? The best teachers I had in school, whether grammar, middle school, high school, or college, are they who asked questions, good questions. Those questions often remain in my head to this day, more than the lectures where only statement of facts were given.
Lawson said:
"The most boring preachers are those who preach like this: statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts, statement of facts. They're just wearing people out."
So very true. Lawson continued, saying:
"Effective teachers and preachers know statement of facts, statement of fact, then come in with a question, and cause the listener to put their pen down, look up, and process so that the wheels will turn, then go back to statement of fact, but then ask probing penetrating questions. That is very effective communication, and that is exactly what Paul is doing here."
Again, so very true.
In another article titled "GOD'S GREAT QUESTIONS," by Doug Batchelor, we have these good observations on the subject:
"Did you know that the longest list of questions found in the Bible is made up of questions asked by God? In Job chapters 38 and 39, God poses query after query to His servant Job, who has daily begged for answers to some tough, heart-wrenching questions of his own."
Another good example, and by God himself, about how teachers should be good at asking questions, about how we should ask questions from our children, our spouses, our neighbors, our church members, etc. God often asks questions like a prosecutor (who are trained in how to ask the right questions).
Batchelor continued, saying:
"When we humans ask a question, it's usually because we're lacking information. God, on the other hand, knows everything. He's omniscient; nothing is a mystery for Him. So I started wondering, Why are there so many Scriptures in which God asks a question? As I began looking through my Bible, I found hundreds of them! What I've discovered is that God does not ask questions because He doesn't know the answers. He asks us deep, penetrating questions because He wants us to think."
Think of the many questions the Lord asked of Adam and Eve after they had sinned. When the Lord asked Adam "what have you done?" and "have you eaten of the forbidden tree?" he was not seeking information for he already knew the answers, but asked them so that Adam would have opportunity to admit the crime. Prosecutors often ask questions that they already know the answers, but they ask them in order to get the answers on record, maybe an admission of guilt, or a perjury.
Sometimes the questions that are asked by effective teachers and speakers are uncomfortable, even irritating to some audiences. They can be provocative. Care should be used in the kind and manner of questions that we ask. A good debater will know the best questions to ask of his opponents.
So much of the social, religious, and political debate today is nothing but strife and wrangling. Rule by the people, or the majority, or democracy, requires public debate. That is our history. Let both sides of an issue debate who has the better policy, the better laws and values, etc. But, it can only work and succeed where democracies have citizens who are educated enough to vote on issues without being swayed by smooth talkers, and who can choose the best qualified, morally and intellectually, to represent them and to rule over them. Honest debate, a sincere desire for truth and fact, is the foundation of our democracy. All tyrants and authoritarian dictators do not want debate and free speech.
