We’ve been answering tough questions from Christian teens for more than 50 years. That’s one of the great opportunities of being involved in youth ministry – addressing the questions that really bother young people.
Here’s our next question.
Questioning Faith
Is it wrong for me to question my faith in God?
Great question and the answer is a resounding NO!
One question I would ask you is whether your question is about God or about “your” faith in God? Here’s the reason I ask that.
Asking a question about the existence or nature of God is one type of a category. You’re asking a question about someone else – in this case God. Asking a question about your faith (belief) is a different category. You’re asking a question about yourself.
The reason the category is important is because of the way we answer questions. If you’re asking a question about God, then we need to find a source of trustworthy information that will lead us to a true and satisfactory answer about God. If you’re asking a question about yourself, then we need to find a way to discover a true and satisfactory answer about yourself.
Faith in God should never be a “blind” leap into the unknown. We shouldn’t believe in anything without evidence. We can “know” that God is real and has communicated important information He wants us to know.
The motto of Faith and Self Defense is Building Confidence Through Evidence. We can be confident in our belief that God exists based on the evidence for His existence. That’s one reason I recommend Christian teens look at the evidence for God’s existence and ask questions for clarity on the topic.
Ask yourself a question: why did you ask the question the way you did? “Is it wrong for me to question my faith in God?” Which question are you asking? Is it about your faith in God or something about God? Or are you asking both questions? That’s okay, too. We can ask lots of different types of questions about God and why or how we believe what we believe.
Questioning God
Asking questions about God is never a problem. In fact, it can be one of the best things a Christian teenager can do. Here’s why I say that.
Christian teens have lots of questions about spiritual things and adults (e.g. parents, youth leaders, teachers, pastors) should welcome their questions. However, what I’ve heard from many young people through the years is that no one in their family or at church wants them to ask questions or that no one has any answers or that the answers they receive don’t address their real questions. That’s not good.
Telling a young person to be quiet or “just have faith” is a terrible way to respond to their interest in God. Giving young people a shallow answer that doesn’t address their real question also doesn’t cut it.
Hundreds of thousands of teens and young adults have walked away from their belief in God because older Christians wouldn’t answer their questions or give them good answers.
Young people learn by asking questions to get information and clarity on a variety of topics. One of those topics, the most important in life, is about God. They may ask a who question, a what question, a why question, a where question, a when question or a how question about God. Questions are an opportunity to address the real concerns and interests of young people and help them see that there are logical and reasonable answers to their questions.
My Question for Christian Adults
My next question is for Christian adults who don’t answer teens when they ask questions about God. Why? Why don’t you stop what you’re doing, listen to your young people and answer their questions? Is it because you don’t care? I would hate to think that Christian parents, teachers, youth leaders and pastors don’t care about the young people in their care. Is it because you don’t know how to answer their questions? That’s what many adults have said to me through the years in answer to my question. My response is simply this. Your teen is going to keep asking questions until they get answers. Who do you want answering their questions? Someone who believes in God or someone who doesn’t? Many teens have gotten answers to their questions by reading books written by atheists or watching videos made by atheists. Is that how you want your teen to get their answers to questions about God? From an atheist? From someone of another religion?
One of the silliest and most dangerous answers to give a teen (or anybody for that matter) is – “just have faith.” What does that mean? How is that a logical and reasonable response to a young person’s questions about God? It’s not! It’s not even a half-hearted attempt at answering a question.
If a young person asks you about a math problem, do you answer “just have faith?” If a young person asks you a history question, do you answer “just have faith?” Faith in what? That they’ll somehow come up with an answer by just having faith that they’ll come up with an answer? That’s ridiculous, but it’s what many Christian adults do when their teens ask questions about God.
If you are a Christian adult and don’t know how to answer questions about God, find someone who can help you learn how to answer tough questions. It’s actually fun to learn and will deepen your own faith in God along the way.
Your teens need to know that you know why you believe what you believe about God. If they think you don’t know why you believe what you believe, why should they continue believing what you’ve told them to believe? That seems illogical.
Will learning how to answer young people’s questions take some of your time? Absolutely. Will that be time well spent? Absolutely!
Questions About God
What kind of questions do you have about God? There are so many different kinds of questions. We’ve already answered some and you can look through past questions and answers here.
Some teens have questions about God’s existence. Some question something He did or said. Is it okay to question God about whether He exists or what He did or said in the past? It is.
When I was an atheist I had three basic questions that needed good answers:
- Does God exist?
- Is the Bible a credible book of history?
- Did Jesus of Nazareth really live, die and rise again?
After a thorough investigation, the answer I came up with for each of those questions was YES. Getting answers to my questions led me from atheism to theism and personal faith in Jesus Christ. Where would I be if I had never asked those questions and found good answers? I can only imagine.
You may find some answers to your questions in these category links below. Don’t let the word “apologetics” throw you. It just means “reasoned argument, systematic argumentative discourse in defense.” It’s how we get answers to tough questions.
Apologetics for the Existence of God
Keep Asking
Christian teen, please keep asking your questions. If you don’t have a parent or teacher or youth leader or pastor who will answer your questions or tells you to “just have faith,” please continue to reach out to us at Faith and Self Defense. We’d love to help you find answers to your questions.
There are many Christian ministries that exist for the primary purpose of answering young people’s tough questions about God. We’ll be glad to share some of those with you as well.
Asking tough questions is something God handles very well. He looks forward to hearing from you – often.
Thanks for asking!
The Next Question
In the next part of our special series, Tough Questions From Christian Teens, we will address the question —
Will we be sinless in Heaven?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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