Jesus was a brilliant teacher. He knew how to tell a story that would propel people into thinking in new categories. He was king of the one-liner. He understood the power of a well-timed, well-phrased question.

Jesus' questions were simple, clear, never condescending, and always provocative. They made people think for themselves and examine their hearts. Jesus' questions were always fresh and attuned to the unique needs of the people He was talking to. Instead of following a rote method, He seems to have thought about how His questions would affect His audience.

People typically remember far more of what they say than what they hear, and far more of what they discover for themselves than what they are spoon-fed. Hence, a question that sparks discovery and gets people to say out loud what they know is an essential tool in teaching. In a small group, the question is everything.

As a rule of thumb, discussion questions usually look for information that members of the group have but the leader may not have:

In each of these cases, the person asking the question is looking for something he or she genuinely doesn't know. That's how questions work in normal conversation. However, there are some pitfalls to avoid when formulating discussion questions.

Don't give a test.

When the task at hand involves drawing out the facts of a text, there are some important questions to be asked that have right-or-wrong answers:

Because fact-finding or observation questions tend to have right answers, and because the person asking the question has usually spent more time examining the text than the responders have, such questions can easily make a discussion feel like a test.

What does a disguised test question look like? It may ask for mind reading: "What five key features of the sanctified mind does Paul describe in Romans 8?"

Since Paul doesn't list five principles in any obvious way in Romans 8, this question asks responders to read the questioner's mind. The group leader has identified five principles in the chapter, and the group's job is to figure out what they are.

Alternatively, a test question may ask people for information not currently available to them: "What does Paul mean by the term flesh in Eph. 2:3 (NASB)?"

Flesh is a somewhat technical term in Paul's vocabulary. Scholars have a lively debate running between at least two points of view. It would be helpful to explain this word in a few clear sentences to your group; but unless you know your group has heard this information before, it's probably unwise to ask them to supply it. You're likely to be met with embarrassed silence and have to answer the question yourself. You have then asked a rhetorical question, not fostered a discussion. Chances are that if you do this often enough, people will begin to assume that all of your questions are rhetorical and will stop trying to answer them.

Even worse, a test question may ask people to defend themselves:

Q. What do you think Paul means by saying we were dead in our sins?

A: I think he means . . .

Q: Why do you say that?

"What do you think" is a perfectly respectable way to ask a question. It asks for information that the responder has and the questioner does not have. However, "Why?" as a follow-up question can make people fear you think their answer was defective.

Here are some other pitfalls to avoid when asking questions, and some suggestions on how you can avoid the pits.

Avoid leading the witness.

If you've watched much TV courtroom drama, you know that attorneys often lead witnesses because it is to the interrogator's advantage to make the witness say what he wants the jury to hear. You also know that leading the witness usually causes the opposing attorney to object.

A small-group leader may want the group to get at some important information. Being committed to a question-and-answer format, she may ask something like:

Each of these questions puts words into the responders' mouths. "Don't you think" is a manipulative way of telling people what to think. There's nothing wrong with a leader saying what he thinks, as long as he takes responsibility for those thoughts: "I think that not taking the Lord's name in vain includes  . . ." "Don't you think" introduces a teaching point or opinion disguised as a question.

The second question assumes that everybody in the group resembles the Pharisees. Perhaps it's true that all Christians are hypocritical or greedy or cowardly to some degree, but most prefer to confess their own sins rather than having others do it for them. This question has the feel of "When did you stop beating your wife?"

The third question offers an either-or alternative. It assumes there are only two possible responses to the passage. Anyone who finds the passage unnerving or sad, or perhaps partly encouraging and partly threatening, is out of luck. Either-or questions usually lead the witness.

Ask one question at a time.

Read the following question: How does the lack of forgiveness affect the one who has done harm, the one who has been harmed, and each person's relationship with God?

If you read that question a couple of times, you could probably take it apart and answer it piece by piece. But if you only heard it, you'd have forgotten the first part by the time you heard the last. It's best to ask just one simple question and wait for responses before asking the next piece.

Make your questions accessible to everyone.

Keep questions simple enough that everyone has a reasonable chance of knowing what you mean the first time you say it. In addition to multiple questions such as the one above, this principle weeds out questions with several linked clauses:

Technical terms can also leave people in the dust:

Routinely scan your questions for words such as paradigm whose meaning most people don't quite know but think they should.

Jesus' questions were always simple. Even so, no one ever felt that He was asking a question beneath his or her intelligence. Keeping the cookies where people can reach them doesn't require us to talk down to them. The simplest questions are usually the most profound.

Ask what you really mean to ask.

It's easier to say what you mean when you keep a question simple. Still, it's often a good idea to go back over a list of questions and ask yourself, Is this what I mean to ask?

"What does it mean to the way we live that human beings are members of the family of God?" is not a terrible question, but maybe what you really want to ask is, "How do you think being members of God's family should affect the way we live?" That seems clearer.

Another example: "What does Pilate say when Jesus starts talking about truth?" It's okay to ask someone to quote the text before asking them what the statement means. But perhaps it will be more economical for you to observe what Pilate says and ask the group what he means: "When Pilate says, ‘What is truth?' what do you think he's asking Jesus? How would you put his question in your own words?"

Watch out for vagueness.

The question "How do you respond to what Jesus says in Mt. 5:17–20?" is likely to leave people wondering what kind of response you're looking for. An emotional response? An opinion about the truth or falsehood of Jesus' statement? A personal application? You should specify: "What feelings does Jesus' statement in Mt. 5:17–20 evoke in you?" Or, "In what ways is this paragraph relevant to us since we do not live under the Jewish law?"

Give more options than yes and no.

Fact-finding questions become boring when they are closed-ended, asking for a single word or short phrase, or worse, they can stop a discussion cold:

Q: Do you identify with the disciples in this passage?

A: Not really.

"No" and "Yes" are not great conversation starters. A person can answer yes or no without even engaging his brain. By contrast, an open-ended question compels people to be attentive to the facts of a text or situation or to think carefully about the meaning of the facts. There's nearly always a way to change a yes-or-no question into the question you really mean to ask: "In what ways, if any, do you identify with the disciples here?"

Without assuming that everyone must identify with the disciples, this question asks what we really want to know: not just whether, but how group members identify with the story. Notice that "In what ways" is even more open-ended than "In what way" because the latter assumes people can't identify in several ways.

Another type of question—"Are there seven key words in this paragraph?"—both leads the witness and asks for merely a yes-or-no answer. What we mean is: "What key words do you notice in this paragraph?"

Good questions will draw your small-group members into deeper interaction with your material and with each other. As you form your questions, keep these key principles in mind, and watch for good things to happen!

Karen Lee-Thorpe is a freelance author and editor. This excerpt is taken from How to Ask Great Questions. © 1998 by Karen Lee-Thorpe. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved.