Here's some examples: What do you think about a woman's right to choose? What's your church's position on illegal immigrants? What does your pastor say about gay marriage?
I used to wonder where queries, not questions, like that came from. See, a query implies a reservation or a disagreement, and when posed by another believer, inquiries like that tend to come across as a demand for secret passwords and catch phrases and essentially represent a covert method of identifying whether I'm friend or foe.
(Funny how seldom believers ask each other, "What's Christ doing in your life?")
When challenged by atheists or skeptics, I wondered whether the probing originated from a serious desire to learn more about Christ and my faith, or were barbs dangling from the end of each question mark, tiny hooks intended to catch hold of the slightest loose thread or stutter, so the interrogator could slam down his or her fist and holler "Gotcha!"?
Hmmm. Hardly anybody ever asks what I think about anything, until they find out I'm a believer ... or until they recognize the name of the church where I'm a member.
-- -- --
What do I think about ...? What's my church's position on ...? What does my pastor preach concerning ...?
Here's my answer.
I believe scripture is God's living word and that Christ, who was crucified and raised from the dead to save us from our sins, taught us to believe in him and to live according to God's commandments. My church's position is devoted to being Christ's body on earth and sharing the gospel. My pastor preaches Jesus, Jesus Jesus every Sunday ... with no apologies attached.
That's what I think.
