New Questions

We’re asking the wrong questions. Let me state it differently. We might need to begin our conversations with a new set of questions and leave our old questions for much later in the conversation.

I’m a church worker who spends a lot of time with other leaders, and I can fall into the age-old trap of starting with the “big” metrics: How many are in worship? How’s the budget? How many baptisms? What’s your vision? None of these are bad questions—but they’re not questions of first importance.

A friend recently came back from a wellness conference for church workers and shared a simple conviction from the speaker: we often do second things first and first things second. Put first things first. Let second things be second.

Maybe we’ve been leading with secondary questions. What if, when we gather or text a friend who comes to mind, we began with primary questions instead?

New questions to ask each other:

• Have you been with the Lord today?

• Where might God seem silent right now—and what could He be forming in that silence?

• As you wait, are you meeting Him daily in your “secret place” (cf. Matt. 6:6)

• How is your soul?

Psalm 40:1 (NIV) says, “I waited patiently for the Lord.”

 Sit in that line. God is present in the waiting.

 “…he turned to me and heard my cry.” He hasn’t forgotten you.

Ok, but first it's your turn. PAUSE and answer those questions for yourself. Sit with God and be honest.

Let’s start asking NEW questions next time we meet—the kinds that put first things first and let everything else find its place.

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