Using Questions Like Jesus

Nika Spaulding Kay Daigle Nika Spaulding joins Kay Daigle for this fun and helpful conversation as she discusses using questions like Jesus. Nika did her doctoral research on this topic and it has changed her perspective of how to disciple others. Whether you disciple your own child, mentor another woman or teach the Bible, this conversation will provide a lot to think about and some practical ideas for implementing questions. Recommended resources Jesus is the Question: the 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered by Martin Copenhaver What do you Seek? The Questions of Jesus as Challenge and Promise by Michael J. Buckley, SJ The Questions of Jesus: Challenging Ourselves to Discover Life's Great Answers by John Dear Re-Imagining Discipleship: A Theological Perspective BOW podcast with Nika Spaulding You can watch this episode on video. Timestamps: 00:32 This topic is for everyone! 02:19 How did you get interested in this topic? 03:39 Making disciples 06:28 What kinds of questions are we talking about? 12:00 Questions in Jesus' day 22:17 What did your research look like? 26:42 How can we learn to ask questions like Jesus? 38:50 Other resources TranscriptKay >> I'm Kay Daigle of Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries. Welcome to this podcast recording. Our special guest today is Nika Spaulding. Nika >> Hey, friends. Kay >> Welcome again, Nika. Nika >> Thanks Kay. Kay >> Nika is a frequent guest on our podcast and our videos, and we're just always so happy when you're able to join us. I’m particularly excited about this conversation today because you're going to be talking about asking questions like Jesus. And that just sounds so interesting to me. And as I was thinking about it, I thought there are a lot of people who could probably benefit from this. I mean, the first people I thought of were like Bible teachers or people who write curriculum or people discipling other people. Or maybe even parents or counselors. I mean that the more I thought about it, the longer the list got. I just kept thinking of almost everybody. And in any kind of capacity there are times that they want to teach other people and maybe they need to use more questions. Nika >> Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I mean, I started out studying this as a way to help, like, church leaders. And then the more I started studying, the more I thought that this is helpful to me as an aunt and as a parent and as really anyone who wants to love others. Well, I think we have to grow in this skill. And so, yeah, I think the list is very long. But it might be everyone. It could be everyone. Kay >> I'm kind of thinking that it is. I just hadn't gotten that far in my mind. I think I would have eventually gotten there because I just kept adding in small group leaders and, you know, just all sorts of people. So I think that's good. Well, tell me just briefly how you got interested in this topic. Nika >> Yeah, I think it was almost by happenstance. So I'm finishing my doctoral program and of course, you have to write a thesis at the end of your time there. And in the beginning I thought I would do stuff on you know, rhetoric in the ancient world, how we understand Bible reading in the ancient world, I thought about like all these, like, really niche things that I was like super nerdy right up my alley. I wrote a bunch of papers on literacy in the ancient world, like, all these things. And then I realized, you know, wow, that's neat. And it's really fascinating. I more and more thought, I want to create something that can help the church. I wanted to create a tool that does exactly what we were just saying, a tool that can help others. And really the impetus for it was a young woman that I've been discipling for probably 15 years came to me and said, “Hey, how do I disciple others?” And, you know, I kind of looked at it like, “Well, what's, you know, what's the other person going through?