Spiritual Curiosity
Key thoughts that came out of a recent small group discussion
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:1–5)
One of the most consistent qualities of young children is that they are insatiably curious.
· In what ways do children express or demonstrate their curiosity?
· What is universal among children is they are almost constantly asking questions, about almost everything that catches their attention.
· What would prevent disciples of Jesus from developing or demonstrating curiosity?
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Fear, embarrassment, arrogance, misunderstanding of what it means to have faith (i.e., certainty, no doubt or questions), laziness.
What is spiritual curiosity?
“Children are insatiably curious. We start out life as curious humans. We know we don’t know and when we don’t know, we ask questions. But as we age, we sometimes lose our sense of curiosity. Spiritual curiosity is the innate human drive to explore and understand the spiritual world, seeking to connect with something larger than oneself and to understand the meaning and purpose of life. It involves a desire to learn, explore, and engage with spiritual concepts, traditions, and practices. We are all children of God regardless of our years on this Earth. Yet for some, as we age, we can get set in our ideas, ways, and expectations and totally convince ourselves we know the outcome of life events yet to unfold. That tendency can stop us in our tracks and limit possibilities.”
What are some aspects of our beliefs and Christian lives might a disciple of Jesus might be curious?
· Since we believe that God exists, then all things to do with knowing God better: God’s nature, how God works in the world, what God’s will is for humans.
· Since we strive to follow Jesus, all things related to knowing Jesus better, his life and his teachings and how to imitate his example and put his teachings into practice.
· Since we claim that the Bible is one of our main connections with God—and for many our almost only way of connecting with God—and our only way of knowing the life and teachings of Jesus, then all things about the Bible: what it is, how it came to be, what about the passages that are hard to understand, etc., etc.
· How we can put our faith into practice in our day-to-day lives.
What beliefs, attitudes and/or practices would be true of the spiritually curious person?
1. Openness to considering new ideas
2. Desire for greater knowledge and deeper understanding of God, Jesus, the Bible, etc.
3. No fear of uncertainty realizing that, like Paul, in this life we can only know in part
4. Willingness to ask questions and give people’s answers respectful consideration
5. Less judging, more wondering; less jumping to conclusions and more listening and asking questions; less criticism, and more wonder and amazement.
6. Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is never stop questioning. Curiosity has it own reason for existing.”
I think Jesus tried to inspire curiosity. As a great spiritual teacher, Jesus wanted people to learn and grow spiritually, but so often he did it by using parables and stories that made folks think. He seldom just come right out and give them simple or pat answers.
I recently read this statement:“In fact, in the gospels, Jesus asks over 300 questions, but of the 183 he was asked, he only directly answered three. Three!”
Regardless of whether or not these are accurate figures, it is pretty obvious that Jesus’ biographers show Jesus as one who preferred to answer questions with a question of his own or respond cryptically or with a story. Jesus wanted people to be curious, to think, to feel, to contemplate and to eventually discover their own answers.
Here are some of my general thoughts about being spiritually curious:
1. It takes humility be curious; to accept that we don’t know everything about anything or that what we think we know may be just partial or even incorrect.
2. It takes trust to allow those around us to be curious; if we tell people they can be curious but they better come up with the answers that I agree with, then we aren’t encouraging curiosity.
3. We’re being like Jesus and we’re following in the steps of Jesus by being humble enough to be curious and trusting enough to encouraging and supporting others in being curious.
4. What are some aspects of our spiritual lives that you are curious about right now?
Prayer: Like Jacob in Gen 36, may I never stop wrestling until I receive a blessing. May I be like Paul, who, in spite of his many, rich and varied spiritual experiences, said that there were lots of things he still didn’t know and even what he knew he only knew “in part.” May I be more like Jesus encouraging others to be curious by not giving “pat answers” but by encouraging all those around me to be curious enough to search out for themselves, and refusing to expect that they come to the same conclusions that I have. May I have the humility, the courage, the trust, and the faith to be curious for the rest of my life. Amen!
Here are some ideas I found that would help develop my spiritual curiosity:
1. Keep an open mind. I don’t know everything about anything. And I may even be wrong about some things I think you know!
2. Don’t take things at face value. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around me. Don’t accept pat answers or trust others who are absolutely certain about what I should believe or know.
3. Ask questions relentlessly. What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people. Be child-like in my search to know more and do more.
4. Don’t label something as boring. Whenever I label something as boring, I close one more door of possibilities. I will never enthusiastically do whatever I consider to be boring.
5. Instead, see learning as something fun. If I see learning as a burden, there’s no way I will want to dig deeper into anything.
6. Have diversity in my learning. Over time explore a variety of subjects or topics using a variety of resources (books, sermons, classes, podcasts, discussion groups, have more than 1 study partner, etc., etc.). And consult a broad array of worthy experts, especially those whose conclusions don’t fit into my mold.
I found a helpful article on being spiritually curious.
[Just trying to do my part in being spiritual curious and encouraging spiritual curiosity in those around me.]
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