We've all been told, at some point or another, to sit down, shut up, and stop asking such hard questions. How did you feel when that happened to you? After that, were you likely to give that particular adult the time of day? Didn't you want to just do anything you could, just because they would hate that?! Yeah. We've been there, too.

We want to be very clear with your students, and with you: It is absolutely OK to ask questions about God, faith, life, Jesus, and anything else you're curious about. We have reason for saying this, too:

Our research shows that it's not doubt that is toxic to faith—it is unexpressed doubt that is toxic to young people's faith.

– Kara Powell, Fuller Youth Institute

Students today are facing questions from all kinds of sources: friends, school, the internet, television, culture, and the list could go on forever. Even in their own minds, students are asking themselves those same difficult questions. As people who are working to help students make sense of life, we do them a disservice when we don't encourage and respond to the tough questions.

When students don't feel the freedom or opportunity to ask questions, they'll find a place where they can ask those questions. Often, those places are not as keen on Jesus as you or I. We want our students to feel like they have a safe place to ask questions, and to ask them without hesitation. Sure, we might not know the answers right away, but providing an environment to have those conversations is almost more important than knowing the answer.

The Question, our series which starts in January, is aiming to do just that. We're collecting questions from our students, and we'll be spending most of the Spring semester responding to them.

Understandably, this can be somewhat concerning for parents. As we expected, some of the most popular questions are on topics like tragedy, homosexuality, science and doubt, and a ton more "hot potatoes." We want to make sure that you (the parents) know that our ears are open to you, during this series. If you have any questions about what's coming up, what's being asked, or what's being taught, we're so happy to have those conversations with you!

Please get a hold of Elliot, if you want to know more.