I finally bought it. What am I talking about? I finally bought the book that I saw several months back. Oh, you probably don’t remember me even mentioning it but I have made a few references to it. The book is written by Andy Stanley and it is titled, “The Best Question Ever.” (Andy Stanley. The Best Question Ever. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004) Being a book-lover (bibliophile) I was intrigued by what could possibly be the best question ever.
He argues that asking yourself this question will help you in making decisions, avoiding financial ruin, saving your marriage, sparing yourself from painful emotional scars, help you to never get caught up in addictive sin, and guide you toward the fulfillment of your dreams. Pretty impressive claims! But could the book deliver? I finally broke down and bought the book to find out.
It took until the third chapter for Stanley to actually get to the question and it took three more chapters to develop the question to its final form. So, to save you from spending $16.99 (plus tax) I will share with you what the best question ever is. Are you ready for it? (No, that wasn’t it!) Here it is, the best question ever is, “What is the wise thing for me to do?” (32)
Huh? That’s it?!? You probably expect me to tell you that I return the book after reading that. Actually, it intrigued me and I kept reading. Not because it is so profound but because it is so obvious yet most of the time we miss it. We never ask ourselves this question when it matters most. The author looks at this question from three angles.
First, “In light of your past experience, what is the wise thing to do?” (43) He then explores our past to see what unique struggles and temptations we have. A quick point here, we are not talking about obvious moral issues. Clearly you should NEVER leave your wife and marry your mistress. But even there the question is appropriate because that would not be wise. Here we apply the question to our unique background. If we have struggled with internet pornography should we not have internet access at home? If we struggle with debt in the past should we get rid of our credit cards? Is it wrong to have a credit card? No. Is it wrong to have internet access? No, but if these things are in your past then it potentially is not wise for you.
The second angle is this, “In light of my current circumstances, what is the wise thing to do?” (47) We know that there is an ebb and flow to life. Sometimes we are up and other times we are down. It is important that we take into account our current emotional situation and state of mind when we make a decision. (47-48) Otherwise we can make rash emotional decisions that will cause ourselves and others pain. I think of some emails that I am glad I took 24 hours before sending (I can also think of the ones I didn’t wait to send and have regretted doing that).
The final angle is this, “In light of my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do.” (52) The decisions we make now rob ourselves of our desired future. We may want to have children who love and adore us when they are older. However, we don’t give them the time of day right now. We want to have a happy, healthy marriage but we are unwilling to call off the friendships with others of the opposite sex. If we made our present decisions in light of our desired future many decisions would be made differently. If we want to have money in the bank and money for retirement that means we can’t always buy the newest car, the nicest house, the biggest TV nor have the most extravagant vacations. These nice things may not be wrong in themselves but if you have limited income you can’t afford filet minion on a ground beef salary.
Okay, all of this is obvious. I know, this is pretty simple stuff. But I have one question for you, why do so many people not do this? Most of us know enough about the Bible and life to know what we ought to do. But so often we do otherwise. I wish this wasn’t the case but I know that it often is. You can debate if this truly is the best question ever. However, I think it is a pretty good question to ask yourself. If you consistently apply this to your life you will avoid many pitfalls and personal pain.
