I found some interesting facts that I wanted to share with them before we started. I said them with certainty, and let them know they are all true. When I finished them all, pause for a second to see if anyone questions any of the facts. If they don’t, ask, do you believe all of that?
Factoid One: Most people have heard of the famous scientist Marie Curie. She won the Nobel Prize in 1911 for chemistry. But did you know she also won the Nobel Prize in 1903 for physics? (True)
Factoid Two: All of the following people were left-handed: Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, Bill Gates, and Lewis Carroll. (True)
Factoid Three: The cat owned by John Lennon was named Elvis. (True)
Factoid Four: Typically, adults have forty-five teeth: eight incisors, four canines, 15 pre-molars, and 18 molars—of which four are wisdom teeth. (False—there are only 32 teeth)
Factoid Five: Dr. Seuss was a pediatrician before becoming the author of children’s books. (false, Dr. Seuss was not a Dr. and his real name was Theodore Geisel
Factoid Six: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ethron, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Statue of Liberty, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. (False— Colossus of Rhodes, not statue of Liberty.)
Pause for a second to see if anyone questions any of the facts. If they don’t, ask, do you believe all of that? When questioned, I asked if and why they thought I'd be lying, later revealing that I was on some of them.
Then they described a time when you questioned someone and got a response like the one you encountered here. What happened?
How do you think God responds when someone questions him? Why?
I said something like I suspect that most of us have sat through sermons or Bible studies where we really wanted to challenge what was being said but had visions of lightning bolts or thunderous voices coming down from heaven to strike us. After all, church is a place for true believers. Church is a place for answers. There’s no room for those who ask questions. God would wipe them off the face of the earth pronto, right?
Wrong.
Any people in the Bible that you can think of that were called/told to do something by God and questioned it?
Here are some people: Consider Sarah’s reaction to the news that she’d be a parent. She laughed! What about Moses and the burning bush? Peter sinking in the waves? Thomas demanding proof of the Resurrection? Abraham? David? Jesus asking that the cup pass over him. The list goes on and on, and if we’re truthful, it probably includes us.
Read aloud Exodus 3:10-15; 4:1-17 after setting the stage by saying: Moses is out tending sheep when he notices a bush that’s burning—but not being consumed. He approaches it and God speaks to him. After telling Moses that God has heard the pleas of the people, God announces that Moses is going on a mission to speak with Pharaoh.
9-10 "The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians. It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."
11 Moses answered God, "But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12 "I'll be with you," God said. "And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain."
13 Then Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, 'The God of your fathers sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What do I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, 'I-AM sent me to you.'"
15 God continued with Moses: "This is what you're to say to the Israelites: 'GOD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.' This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.
What did you hear in those verses? What does it say about questions?
1 Moses objected, "They won't trust me. They won't listen to a word I say. They're going to say, 'GOD? Appear to him? Hardly!'"
2 So GOD said, "What's that in your hand?" "A staff."
3 "Throw it on the ground." He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast!
4-5 GOD said to Moses, "Reach out and grab it by the tail." He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. "That's so they will trust that GOD appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
6 GOD then said, "Put your hand inside your shirt." He slipped his hand under his shirt, then took it out. His hand had turned leprous, like snow.
7 He said, "Put your hand back under your shirt." He did it, then took it back out—as healthy as before.
8-9 "So if they don't trust you and aren't convinced by the first sign, the second sign should do it. But if it doesn't, if even after these two signs they don't trust you and listen to your message, take some water out of the Nile and pour it out on the dry land; the Nile water that you pour out will turn to blood when it hits the ground."
10 Moses raised another objection to GOD: "Master, please, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer."
11-12 GOD said, "And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn't it I, GOD? So, get going. I'll be right there with you—with your mouth! I'll be right there to teach you what to say."
13 He said, "Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!"
14-17 GOD got angry with Moses: "Don't you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He's good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he's on his way to meet you. When he sees you he's going to be glad. You'll speak to him and tell him what to say. I'll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step. He will speak to the people for you. He'll act as your mouth, but you'll decide what comes out of it. Now take this staff in your hand; you'll use it to do the signs."
What did you hear in those verses? What does it say about questions?
They then discussed the questions:
Would you characterize God as patient or impatient with Moses? Explain.
Is there a difference between questioning God and challenging God? If so, how would you describe Moses’ interaction with God?
In what ways have you doubted God? questioned God?
We discussed when we’re uncertain, we ask questions. We poke and prod to determine if what we’re hearing or seeing is true. And sometimes doubt is a lifesaver for us.
The next time you stand at the edge of a frozen lake and doubt the ice is thick enough to support your weight, doubting might save your life.
The next time you hear a questionable Bible teaching and you check to see if what was taught lines up with what’s revealed in the Bible, that’s a great result of doubt. It has led you to ask questions and find answers.
That’s honest doubt and honest questioning.
From the clips earlier, these things that Truman experienced and saw led him to question and doubt the things going on around him.
In the movie, how did doubting and questioning help Truman? Did it hurt Truman? How so?
Then there’s the dishonest kind.
Dishonest doubt is the sort that’s thinly disguised cynicism. It doesn’t lead to new insights or truth. The dishonest doubter isn’t really open to learning truth.
Ask:
Describe someone you’ve met who seems to be a dishonest doubter. What is the person like?
Describe a time you’ve had doubts about God or something concerning God. How have you dealt with your doubts?
In what ways are you an honest doubter? a dishonest one?
Read Luke 24:36-43 aloud. 36-41While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, "Peace be with you." They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, "Don't be upset, and don't let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it's really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn't have muscle and bone like this." As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.
41-43He asked, "Do you have any food here?" They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.
How did Jesus respond to the honest doubt of his followers?
How does Jesus respond to your honest doubt?
How does this apply to the movie and how does it apply to your life?
Truman’s questions and doubts led him to leave the lies and falsehoods of ‘the world’ in which he lived, and led him to seek truth and freedom and all that come with those, by ignoring what ‘the world’ had told him. It also led him to seek love.
We were given the gift of free will by God, and we should cherish it. It helps us to raise questions, to search and explore our faith, and not just be spoon fed someone else’s faith/beliefs.
Asking questions of God doesn’t mean we don’t believe, or don’t have faith, but utilizing Scripture, and our own experiences, and traditions, and our reason, can help us to know who we are and who God wants us to be. We can develop our own faith and beliefs, and know that asking questions, can help lead to answers. With all of this, we may become like Truman, and leaving behind the lies and falsehoods of the world and seeking out the love of God through Christ, that is much greater than anything in this world.
We closed with a prayer of thanks for God’s faithfulness to us no matter how we feel, and for God’s love—which reaches out to us no matter what. Commit the doubts of your group to God and ask that he provide the answers your students need.
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