We can steward our everyday conversations in ways that build people up or in ways that tear people down
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We all know that the same question can be asked in different ways: It can convey a snarky tone or a genuine inquiry, for example.
This week’s readings invite us to reflect on another dimension of questions: whether they lead us into the mysteries of Christ or away from those mysteries.
For example, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits His hometown of Nazareth. When He finishes preaching, people ask: “Is this not the son of Joseph?” Note carefully: The words of that question could be legitimate. But, in its context, the question itself is misleading. That is to say, the question leads them away from the mystery of Jesus’ life, not more deeply into it. They’re asking the wrong question.
By contrast, in the very next passage, Jesus is preaching in Capernaum. After He preaches and drives out a demon, the people ask: “What is there about His word?” In this case, the question is drawing people more deeply into the mystery of Jesus’ life: His words are showing He is the Word. Even if they don’t have the answer yet, they’re asking the right question.
In First Corinthians, St. Paul is trying to clear up a dispute: People have broken into factions, claiming to belong to different apostles. Paul asks them, pointedly: “What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?” Here, Paul’s question draws them to the mystery. Then, knowing they need more help, he answers the question: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.”
Later, in First Corinthians, St. Paul is addressing the arrogance of the people. He asks them: “What do you possess that you have not received?” Here’s another question that leads them more deeply into the mystery: in this case, the mystery of being members of Christ’s body and receiving everything through Him. But this time he doesn’t answer the question for them. It’s enough to leave them wrestling with the right question.
St. Paul says that we are “stewards of the mysteries of God.” We know that we can “steward” our everyday conversations in ways that build people up or in ways that tear people down — and we often do it by the kinds of questions we ask.
This week we begin September and start the Labor Day weekend. It’s the unofficial end of summer and beginning of fall. And that means we’re turning toward an election season.
It seems to me that we can and should be better “stewards” of the election by paying careful attention to the kinds of questions we ask and the kinds of questions we hear in political advertising. Just as in the Gospels, the questions we ask can lead to the heart of the matter or distract us from the heart of the matter.
I encourage all of us to study the readings this week. Pay attention to the kinds of questions that are asked — how they lead us into or away from the central mysteries of life in Christ. Then, start applying those lessons to the questions we ask in our own everyday discourse. And, finally, start thinking about the election in terms of whether or not we’re asking the right questions.
