Chaps Meditation
02 JUN 20 _ _, Iraq, SOTF TOC
“What the heck are you doing?” Have you heard this question posed recently, maybe in a cutting tone?
When on the receiving end, we can feel stupid & undermined when questioned. For sure there is a necessary corrective element when questioned for poor TTPs or incomplete tasks. But sometimes such questions result from a desire to be smarter & better than the person next to us. At this same time, a questioning attitude makes organizations stronger. It also makes our faith deeper. But the way we question matters. It can come from pure or hypocritical motives. This week let’s consider the attitude from which we question others & God.
In the Gospel of Mark, Chapters 11&12, Jesus is questioned by various factions of the Jewish Leadership. His answers are profound. He demonstrates that He can handle tough questions. How awesome that the Lord understands when we doubt and ask, “WHY GOD?” In the setting for this passage Jesus is teaching in the Temple Courts. The courts were 600 feet by 1500 feet. Three football fields wide and six football fields long. Twice the size of any temple in Rome. They could fit a couple hundred thousand pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem for Passover. The Temple architecture was breathtaking-15 stories high. Here, Jesus opened himself to questions from the Jewish Leadership and taught the people.
The Chief Priests, Teachers of the Law and the Elders went first. They approached Jesus and asked “By what authority are you doing these things?” They referred to His clearing the temple courts the day before and his teaching without the official ordination of the establishment. Knowing their hypocrisy, Jesus questioned them back. “Was John the Baptist’s ministry from God or from men?” If they said, “God,” they would be guilty of not having repented and believed. If they said “from Men,” they would have lost face and angered the people who held John a prophet.
By posing a question they would not answer, Jesus underscored that neither would they have been willing to recognize the Divine source of His teaching and actions. Earlier on, in Mark 11:18, we learn that these leaders already planned to kill Jesus. Their question didn’t arise from a teachable heart sincerely wanting an answer, but instead from a prejudged position about Jesus.
After this the Pharisees, popular teachers, and Herodians—a loose group loyal to the Jewish puppet king, ask Jesus about taxes to trap Him. Jesus’ answer stops them in their tracks. “Pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Then a priestly order who ran the Temple affairs, the Sadducees, question Jesus about the resurrection from the dead. Their question came from a misconceived notion, and involved an overstated and bizarre case. They came with a philosophical conundrum–not with genuine doubt seeking answers.
Lastly a scribe, a Lawyer of the day, noticing Jesus’ solid answers, steps up with a good question. He wanted to know what the most important commandment was. Jewish Law has 600 commandments in the Tanakh so his curiosity was valid. Jesus responds and says that he should love God with all his being and his neighbor as himself. Jesus then commends him, “You are not far from the Kingdom.” We need to hear this too. Questions aren’t wrong. They can mean we’re close to the Kingdom. They don’t offend God. Our Faith is a historical one, where eye witness is what changed hearts and minds & led to the spread of the belief that forgiveness of sin and eternal life was possible through trust in Jesus of Nazareth’s resurrection.
The path to trust Christ often comes from questions, doubts, and overcoming past pain.
A friend told me this week that when his first child died at 40 weeks, he experienced great pain and questioned God. He was a minister, and soon after, he shared, that was hired as a Hospital ER Pediatric Chaplain. He buried over 200 children & comforted grieving parents with the same questions.
Now he and his wife have 3 children and he serves as an Army Chaplain. The positive outcomes in his life don’t make up for the loss of Baby James. But they do show God’s sovereign care.
Our questions honor God and show a willingness to engage in relationship with Him.
The truth is Jesus is a questioning person. The most important moment that each of us faces is when He questions us, “Who do you say l am?” and “will you trust Me?” The tables are turned. We have an answer due to Him in His sincerity.
Prayer:
“Lord, may genuine questions ground my relationships and lead me to experience Your Kingdom. Amen.”
LCDR Kristian Carlson is a Navy Chaplain. He has served alongside Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, & Special Forces, and has completed three deployments. In 2020, the Navy sent him to Duke University’s Divinity School to earn a specialized Master’s Degree, ThM, in Pastoral Care, where he focused his studies on challenges facing Active Duty personnel, Veterans and their families. His specific areas of interest include care for persons with Complex Trauma, strategies for healing from PTSD, Moral Injury, & mild TBI. A key personal mission of his is to leverage the strengths of faith-based Veteran Service Organizations as strategic partners to chaplains, the VA, and the DoD in their ongoing resiliency & suicide prevention initiatives. He is married to his Chilean sweetheart, Damaris. They have two young children, who are the delight of their hearts.
If you are interested in Chaplaincy, contact Kit via LinkedIn or email striderk@yahoo.com.
1. Temple depiction from https://www.womeninthescriptures.com/2020/07/what-was-the-temple-in-jerusalem-like-in-jesuss-time.html, accessed 14 APR 2026
Kristian Carlson 
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