Charlie’s White Paper

On Monday I was on the panel at a grill-a-christian event and I thought I’d offer a few thoughts. It was organised by a friend of mine who teaches at The Beal High School. There were about 10-15 people present and the discussion went quite well.

A Grill a Christian is an event for people to bring difficult questions and problems that they have about Christianity and hear some answers. These events can work really well, or they can be awkward and a waste of time. Ironically, when the organisers and panel think things have gone well is probably when they haven’t.

Organising the Event

Get bums on seats. You can always control the size of the crowd, but do everything you can to pack the room. You want all the guests to feel comfortable and they will feel more comfortable in a crowd. You want the Christians to be in the minority.

Trust your panel. Only invite people that you trust to answer the questions. You don’t want to have to correct or backtrack. You must handover each question to a member of the panel. Leave it there and let them answer. Don’t dip in with your own view as well.

Chair the discussion strictly. The format is almost unique and some people are often concerned that it will become an undisciplined riot. But it is not the grillers that need reining in, but rather the grill-ees. To many questions are met with three of four answers as each panellist adds to each other’s response. The chair should pick the questioner and the answerer and make sure that the answer meets the question and allow a chance to follow-up.

Let the questions, rather than the answers, set the agenda. Yes, we want everyone to hear about Jesus, but that is not what this event has been advertised as. Rein in the discussion and move it on when it is clear that many people in the room are not interested, or when there are other questions.

Asking Questions

Don’t feel embarrassed or awkward about your question. The event is designed for you, so make the most of it and ask anything you want. If it’s a personal issue for you, you may want to ask it later in private. But if you’re willing to share

Don’t accept rubbish answers. If someone palms you off with a weak answer, politely challenge them. If someone doesn’t answer the question at all, say so. It’s the panel’s job to answer and so feel free to grill them.

If you’re a Christian, feel free to ask questions too. But ask honest questions, not hypothetical questions to get discussion going. Nothing kills the spontaneity and openness of the event like a staged question.

Answering Questions

Answer the question you’re asked. It’s really easy – especially given the pressure of the situation – to hear a few key words and assume the question. One good way to avoid this is to repeat the question back just to be sure.

Some people pivot immediately to explain the Christian message as a whole. This is great when it meets the case, but the question should be treated properly, not as an excuse to bring out your gospel presentation.

Keep quiet. Don’t add to what other panellists say unless they’re completely wrong. It’s easy to think of how you would answer the question and then do so. This is probably the most irritating thing a panel can do. Ideally you want the panel to be speaking for less than 70% of the time.

Admit you don’t know. If you struggle with something too, admit it. If you don’t know, then say so, and pass the question on. A right humility in all your answers is important. Even the wisest bible scholar is still a flawed and limited sinner. If you admit when you don’t know, then your interlocutor may be encouraged to do so too.

Feel free to ask questions back. The best events feel more like a debate than a question-and-answer session. The people asking questions have opinions too and it’s worth hearing them. Proving the soundness of your own view only takes you so far. If you want to convince someone it is also useful to show how their own viewpoint is less persuasive than yours.

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There you go. Just some thoughts from my experiences in all three roles. Let me know what you think.