When asked to name the most critical need in any organization — including the church — one answer regularly given is "good communication." Because we all communicate all the time, we often take for granted that we are good at it. This is not always the case. Regularly we define communication in terms of the message we want to convey, not the interactive give and take of shared ideas. In recent years, an emphasis on the importance and development of good listening skills has grown. Listening is vital — much more art than science — but another crucial element in improved communication is the ability to ask good questions.

Insightful, incisive questions can help focus people's thinking and draw them together in transformative dialogue. The kinds of questions we contemplate say a lot about our deepest values and interests. Psychological philosopher Sam Keen, in his book, Hymns to an Unknown God, says, "Nothing shapes our lives so much as the questions we ask — or refuse to ask." Our questions may actually communicate more about our thinking and faith than the answers we give.

Think about the questions you deal with as leaders in your congregation. What is their focus? How do they direct the attention of those involved? How do they help the leadership grow together in their sense of mission and vision?

Offered here are four categories of question (functional, formational, relational, and operative) and samples for each. With a group of leaders from your congregation, reflect on the purpose and effect of each category. Share your understanding of these four categories with the others in your group.

Please note that all of these questions are important to ask. The point is not that we should focus solely on one of the four lists, but that we should balance all four together. Our time together as leaders in the church should afford us ample time to reflect not only on operational and functional questions, but formational and relational questions as well.

Take some time together to discuss the questions you regularly address in your leadership settings.

1. Which categories draw your greatest focus? Where are you "out of balance" between the four categories?
2. How might you reframe your questions for greater effect?
3. What are some ways that you might shift focus to allow balance between the four categories?