A Sincere Question
In the original The Fast and The Furious, Brian (played by the late Paul Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel) are out cruising in their newly built Mk4 Toyota Supra. They pull up at a stoplight next to a spotless Ferrari F355 Spyder, and the following exchange takes place:
Brian: “Nice car. What’s the retail on one of those?”
Ferrari owner: “More than you can afford, pal. Ferrari.”
Brian and Dom stare at them for a few long seconds. Then Dom looks at Brian and says “Smoke ‘em.” The light turns green, and both drivers break a variety of traffic laws while looking impossibly cool in the California sun.
Notice, though, that the Ferrari owner doesn’t answer Brian’s question. We don’t know how much the Ferrari costs. Sure, Brian wasn’t actually inquiring about buying one, but hey, what if he was? What if the question was sincere?
For an even more famous unanswered question, head over to John 18. Jesus stands before the Roman governor Pilate, who will determine if Jesus deserves to be crucified. Their exchange consists of mostly questions, and a question is actually how the conversation ends: “’You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.” (John 18:37-38) This is where the conversation ends. Pilate finds nothing wrong with him, yet strong opposition from the Jews means Jesus was sentenced to be crucified under Roman law anyway.
Pilate probably didn’t ask his question sincerely. In the free-thinking, academic times of the Roman Empire, Pilate may have held a personal sense of morality similar to what people today call moral relativism: truth and morality are relative, not fixed, and ultimate, universal truth can’t be known. Truth for Pilate could be different from truth for Jesus, and perhaps Pilate was jeering a bit at Jesus’ inflexibility and intolerance of someone else’s truth.
But what if he was sincere? What if Pilate was captivated by Jesus’ steady confidence and assurance, and wanted to be part of that? What if Pilate was weary from years of not really believing in anything, and wanted to put his hope in something unchanging and eternal?
We don’t know. But we know that a question asked flippantly or sardonically can come from a place of sincere doubt, and we need to be ready to respond with a sincere answer. We can listen for that in questions like:
“I don’t know – how can we know anything for sure?”
“Why go to church today when I can do a deathbed confession down the road?”
“Is there supposed to be a point to this pain I’m going through?”
“Why are we even here?”
These spark the conversations that can explain how only Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His life, passion, and teachings embody the truth that was needed 2,000 years ago and is still needed today.
Truth and morality aren’t inflexible. Although, as the suddenly collectible Mk4 Supras surpass 355 Spyders in value, car prices clearly are.
