A HIGHER HOPE | Answering the Tough Questions
“Does God really care when we hurt?”
“Does it matter what gender I choose?”
“Can’t we just agree that all love is OK?”
“Are all races equal?”
“Who gets to go to heaven and who goes to hell?”
These questions cut to the core of this generation’s sense of identity, self-esteem, purpose and lifegoals. We need to know how to answer them. They are conversations we really want to have with our students.
Recently, Rebecca McLaughlin wrote a book titled “10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity” in which she posed 10 core life questions (including those above) and then offered answers that we can share with our students. As one commentator noted, “Rebecca doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations about heaven, hell, sexuality and racism but handles them with gentleness, humility and a refreshing humour that teens will appreciate.”[1]
In a recent Biblical studies lesson a student asked: “If God really made the universe and is in control of everything, why does He let bad things happen? Why doesn’t He fix things when we pray?” As McLaughlin poses “How can we believe that God is full of power and love when He lets wars break out, families break up, kids get bullied and babies die?”[2]
This student’s mother has had cancer for more than half his life, and throughout this time, he has seen her suffer terribly through the many stages of cancer. He is grappling with hearing that the cancer ‘is aggressive’ and ‘has come back – again’. He has lived with the excitement of remission and the dashed hopes of relapse.
The teacher knew a little of his story, but also knew that many other students in that class had stories of suffering. She knew this question would be impossible to answer in one lesson, but also knew that every opportunity is there to be grasped even if the answer is just an introduction to be followed up later. McLaughlin takes the same approach with this question in her book and gives guidance on how to approach important questions for our students. She takes one story about Jesus and draws out that God is really in charge and yes, really does care. This type of answer could be used with our students.
In John 11:1-44, Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus became very ill and they sent Jesus a message to let Him know. Instead of going to Lazarus straight away, Jesus stayed two more days where He was (John 11:5-6). Once Lazarus had died, Jesus travelled with His disciples to raise him from the dead. There will be times, eg bullying, sick family, fighting parents etc, where God doesn’t fix everything. Sometimes He does, but also sometimes He doesn’t. What we do know is that His Holy Spirit will always walk through our problems with us and lend us His strength.
McLaughlin reminds us that prayer is not a vending machine and that God is not a means to an end, “He is the end … a person, the greatest gift … And He meets us most tenderly in our suffering.”[3] She uses the next verse “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) to remind us that God is with us and our young people in our suffering.
She goes on to share that most of the time we won’t understand and that there are no easy answers. However she also reminds us that Jesus suffered and died for us and so we can trust Him to be with us in our most painful situations too. Romans 8:18: (I consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us.) reminds us that the ending will be much better than we expect.
I highly recommend this book as a resource of down-to-earth thoughts and answers to the most difficult questions. Let us take up the opportunities of giving our students space to explore life from God’s point of view and encourage them to find true meaning in Jesus for their lives.
[1] Quina Aragon, Love Made: A Story of God’s Overflowing, Creative Heart. On front jacket of Rebecca McLaughlin, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity.
[2] Rebecca McLaughlin, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity, (Illinois, Crossway, 2021), 158
[3] Ibid. 161