"Religions institutions committed to communal uniformity seldom ask questions. The risk of straying beyond conventional answer is too great. Jesus asked questions because he believed in their power to engage his hearers, and he wanted his disciples to consider the reality of God in other ways, not regurgitate past platitudes that had lost their meaning and vigor. His frequent encouragement for others to embrace a new manner of being reveals a man quite comfortable with independent thought and action, who urged his hearers to flourish and grow and not be spiritually root-bound. In asking his disciples, 'Who do you say that I am?' Jesus was inviting them to consider what they believed about God and how God was present in the world.

"Perhaps the most important task of a spiritual guide is to help create a community where people can safely reevaluate their beliefs. Persons occasionally speak to me about feeling spiritually 'stuck.' More often than not, they have hailed from traditions whose religious explorations were limited to a strict and literal interpretation of the Bible. While that theology had an initial appeal, it often didn't hold up to the complexities of life, and they became disillusioned, no longer believing that the church, or at least the church they'd experienced, was an effective partner in spiritual formation. Their response is almost always predictable and will take one of two forms: They leave the church. convinced it has little to offer (unfortunately, this is the most common reaction). Or sometimes they discover a community whose understanding of faith is broader and richer than they've experienced, a community where exploration is valued over conformity.

"Because questions help our spiritual evolution, early Quakers devised a series of queries, encouraging their regular and frequent consideration as an aid in our spiritual formation. I have participated in worship groups whose focus on these questions led to transformative insights, often taking me in directions I hadn't anticipated. I have seen this happen time and again with others. Having hungered for such a community, our joy in finding such places is so infectious that even as we are blessed by the community, we enrich it in return. This to me is the church at its best, uniting in love and learning, but not so slavishly committed to uniformity that our responsibility for personal exploration is lost."