Misleading Leading Questions

"How much does a five pound bag of sugar weigh?" "Do you believe that Christ died for your sins?" Both of these are leading questions in their own way. The first gives the exact answer in the question. The second tells the one to whom the question is asked what the questioner is seeking by asking a "yes" or "no" question. If the person wants to please or wants to get away from the questioners, he will choose the answer that he thinks the interviewer wants to hear. This happens many times in the interviews of prospective church members. Leading questions can be asked so as not to embarrass a candidate and to finish the interview with dispatch. Many are afraid that a candidate might ask why he is required to go through a theological examination in order to become a member. Questioning concerning the prospect’s salvation is essential because it maintains a church comprised of truly born-again members (as much as humanly possible).

Every church professes to have a desire to live by the Word of God. Yet when it comes to salvation, Christendom presents many different ways for a person to be saved. Too often God and His Word have no part in plans for salvation. Passages that God never intended to be used for salvation today are torn from context and used to apply to the unsaved. Salvation is only from God. Jesus Christ is the only way (John 14:6) to salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12)." God has only one plan for salvation and no more. We must accept His standards or we have no standards for receiving salvation at all. He says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16)." Several passages tell the individual to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31) but they do not tell us what to believe. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 does tell us what to believe and says that it is the means by which we are saved. We believe in Christ through the facts of the gospel concerning Christ. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain [without an object or destination]. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" This is the divinely designed plan of salvation and any other plan of salvation is man contrived even though it might use passages of God’s Word for support. The gospel should be the central subject of every membership interview.

Approaches vary in many churches. Some churches admit members on the affirmative answer to the simple question, "Are you saved?" If the answer is "yes," the person is recommended for membership and voted onto the roll.

Other churches ask for a testimony from the candidate concerning his or her salvation. These testimonies give the interviewers an introduction to the candidate and some insight into one’s view of salvation. Everyone who hears the testimony is interested and concerned for the candidate because the candidate is another person who wants to share in the responsibilities of church membership.

Everyone is blessed when a clear and concise testimony is given to demonstrate that a candidate has believed in Christ through His death for our sins, burial and physical resurrection. But what if the testimony doesn’t present an accurate gospel as the way the person became a Christian? What does the interviewing committee do now? Too often members drag out those leading questions to confirm a person’s faith in Christ for salvation.

A leading question provides its own answer by giving information within the question. Either a clear answer is given as in the five pounds of sugar question or the questioner gives the answer in a simple "yes" or "no" question. The candidate doesn’t mention that Christ died for his or her sins and so the leading question is, "Do you believe that Christ died for your sins?" The resurrection hasn’t been mentioned so the leading question is, "Do you believe that Christ rose from among dead ones?" There are many other leading questions used in membership interviews. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?" "Do you believe that Christ was buried because He really died physically?" What candidate would dare to say "no" before a membership interviewing committee since he or she has applied for membership? Of course, the answer would normally be "yes" to each of these. As a result, the church really doesn’t know with any certainty whether the new member is a believer or not. Leading questions may have misled the church to vote an unbeliever into membership.

Unfortunately, misleading leading questions may be asked because members of the interviewing committee themselves don’t know what the gospel is by which a man, woman, boy or girl is saved. Without clear recognition of the gospel, salvation is impossible. It is through the gospel of Christ that one believes in Christ. The gospel is what a person believes about Christ and His work to be saved. The gospel is clear and simple. It is "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3, 4)." No gospel — no salvation! Omissions — no object of faith!

In the Upper Room the Lord Jesus promised to send another Comforter who would take His place after He had returned home to the Father (John 14:16; 15:26). He clearly identified the other Comforter as the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 26; 15:26). "And when he is come, he will reprove [or convict, convince] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me (John 16:8, 9)." He convicts the persons comprising the world of sin because they are not believing on Christ. When He convicts of the sin of not believing in Christ, He convicts them of what they need to believe about Christ to be saved — the good news concerning Christ. When the Spirit of God gives the gift of faith, the new believer must know what to believe or he or she has believed with an improper object — "in vain" (1 Cor. 15:2). An absence of facts or wrong facts about Christ prevent salvation. The individual will be able to say clearly that the conviction of the Holy Spirit convinced him of the sin of not believing in Christ. He has also been convinced that Christ died for acts of sin ["sins"] as the Perfect Substitute. After salvation, the new believer can look back to the moment that he was given the gift of faith and say, "Christ died for me." This cannot happen until after salvation has been accomplished (cf. Rom. 5:8). I believe that the Holy Spirit may bring essential facts of the gospel to mind to some who believe when a plan of salvation is presented omitting a specific, necessary fact. This assumes that the person has heard that fact at some time prior to the presentation. This is uncommon but possible given the ability of the Spirit of God. The fact is that a true believer will know and give assent to the gospel of Christ. It may be fuzzy but with careful, accurate questions the gospel will be clear (not with leading questions).

A new members class should normally begin with a presentation of the testimonies of prospective members. It is a useful mechanism for determining the validity of a testimony before an interview. Early in the class the teacher will go through the gospel and its role in salvation. "But won’t that of itself be a basis for leading questions?" No! An unsaved person will not remember the facts of the gospel. Whether they are simpletons or geniuses, all have the same problem — they just can’t remember the facts they need to know to be saved! Even if an unsaved person has an IQ of 200, he or she will not accurately remember the gospel when asked after hearing it repeatedly. A true believer with an 80 IQ will always remember. Why? Because the unbeliever has at least two forms of blindness: a natural blindness (Eph. 4:18) and a Satanic blindness (2 Cor. 4:4). His fallen nature is not capable of comprehending the significance of the gospel and so he has no interest in it. When the gospel is presented, Satan drops the blind over his mind and keeps the whole of the gospel out of his mind. Yet God the Spirit removes the blindness from a person when He saves him.

Too often churches accept the testimonies of candidates that are an eternity away from the gospel of Christ. "I asked Jesus to come into my heart." "I prayed the sinners prayer, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’" "I accepted Christ as my Savior." "I love Jesus." "I prayed to be saved." "I repented of my sins." "I confessed Jesus as Lord." "I was born into a Christian family." "I have attended church all my life." "I opened my heart’s door and let Jesus come in." "I walked the aisle . . . ." "I raised my hand. . . ." "I saw Jesus." "I worked for God." "I was baptized." "I cried out to God to save me." "I cried when I heard about Jesus." "My mother taught me to pray at her knee." "I prayed for salvation." "I have been a church member." The number of the bogus testimonies given for membership would fill volumes. Not one of these is a part of the gospel by which you are saved. Many times a person’s testimony is ignored for the sake of the addition of a new member to the roll. It makes the additions report look better. With testimonies like these, leading questions can be asked to justify a "yes" vote. Up comes the "Are you a Christian?" question. Most Americans can answer that with a "yes." After all isn’t this a Christian nation? A "yes" answer hides the reality that a person is not saved.

We do have some perfectly good questions that aren’t leading questions. "How do you know that you are saved?" This question gives the candidate a perfect opportunity to say that he has believed the gospel concerning Christ and to identify the gospel by which one is saved. In response to the "I believed in Jesus Christ" answer, one might ask, "What did you believe about Christ to be saved?" This is a perfect question that encourages a person to give the gospel accurately. Again, if the person believed the gospel, he should be able to give the essential facts — Christ died for my sins, was buried and rose again.

Three other important questions also need to be asked. "What did you do to be saved?" It is very encouraging to have the candidate hesitate, think and then say, "Nothing!" Such an answer indicates that the person is not relying on works for salvation. We must remind ourselves that faith is not a work (Rom. 4:5) so that we can answer "I believed." Another question is: "Where did you get the faith to believe?" True Christians know that they didn’t have enough faith or the right kind of faith within themselves to believe in Christ but that it had to come from God — the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; 1 Cor. 3:5). The third question is: "What happens if you sin?" The answer to this question accomplishes two things. First it can give a view of whether the person believes that salvation can be lost or not — i. e. eternal security (the perseverance of the Savior). Secondly, it can give an understanding of what the person knows about the rudiments of the spiritual life.

None of these questions are leading questions. They test the reality of Bible salvation and divine intervention in one’s life. They provide a measure of protection from unbelievers becoming members of the local church. A tare can look like, sound like, live like and smell like a true believer. His sin nature has religious works that can make him indistinguishable from true believers. For this reason Satan sows them among the wheat. Only when the harvest comes will it be evident who the tares are. Yet we have the responsibility to do everything possible to have a regenerate church membership.

Some might say, "We never turn anyone away from membership." In spite of a professed belief in regenerate church membership, the temptation is too great to become a part of the members numbers game. "So this person has a weak testimony, even with leading questions, we’ll let him join so that he can begin to learn what salvation really means." An attitude of this sort reflects a view of "salvation by education" that is no more than another form of works salvation. Compromised membership standards and interviews bring unbelievers into membership. Sadly these produce their own kind (even better than true believers do). As a result, the very idea of a local church being the manifestation of the Church which is His Body, the universal Church, is impossible. Leading questions direct goats into what should be a sheepfold. This is the way that the wolves get into the local church so that they can attack from within (Acts 20:29).

Misleading leading questions bring in tares — unbelievers — into churches. Clear, accurate knowledge of the gospel by which one is saved is absolutely necessary. If a person omits parts of the gospel, it is highly questionable whether he or she is saved. If he or she adds to the gospel, that person is not saved. No gospel! No salvation! No church membership!

© by David K. Spurbeck Sr., 1997