Barnabas Piper - The Curious Christian: How Discovering Wonder Enriches Every Part of Life

Copyright 2017 by Barnabas Piper

All rights reserved.

Printed in United States of America

978-1-4336-9192-8

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 155.2

Subject Heading: CHRISTIAN LIFE \ CURIOSITY \ HUMAN BEHAVIOR

All Scripture is taken from Holman Christian Standard Bible ( hcsb ), copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

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Dedication

For my mother.

I remember lying on top of the luggage in the back of our Chevy Caprice Woody station wagon on the endless drive from Minnesota to Georgia and listening to you read adventure stories loud enough for me to hear all the way in the back and reading so well I forgot how bored I was.

I remember sitting in the kitchen while you made dinner and listening to Fresh Air on NPR over the sounds of my growling stomach. I never knew what was happening, but I knew it was important.

I remember the soothing tones of Garrison Keillors voice and the quirky, dry humor of Lake Wobegon as you listened to the Prairie Home Companion .

I remember you helping me with science and history projects and being much more enthralled with the topics (especially history) than I was.

I remember shelf upon shelf of mysteries by Agatha Christie, P. D. James, and others. And what says curiosity like a love of mystery?

I remember you giving me a chance to do the things I loved and invest in my interests even when it meant freezing your toes off at snowy November football games or weekly trips to the Franklin Library during the summer.

I remember how you read all the plaques at museums and Civil War battle fields. I was so bored. Now I bore my own children.

I remember you making a home for more than thirty years in the same, diverse, sometimes rough, never boring, Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis and showing me how to love its numerous people and cultures.

I remember your love of learning and travel and your insatiable desire to understand and discover. You asked so many questions!

I remember you teaching teaching me, teaching my siblings, teaching at church, teaching about Gods Word, about history, about literature, about culture.

Now I hope that you can pull this book from your expertly packed carry-on as you sit on a 747 destined for Taiwan, Sweden, New Zealand, or Zambia. I hope you can see how your curiosity, your investment, your example has shaped me and fed these pages. I wrote the words, but so many of the ideas are yours.

Thank you.

Acknowledgments

Id like to thank everyone who gave me blank stares when I said I was writing a book on curiosity. You were a consistent reminder of exactly why I was writing.

To the many friends who didnt give blank stares but rather asked insightful, pointed, curious questionsthank you. You were the crucial balance to the blank stares, my reminder that curious people exist and want to learn and ask and grow.

Though he cant hear me and will never read this, Oscar Peterson deserves thanks for his music. It carried me through the writing of this book while keeping my spirits up.

To the innumerable influences on my own curiositythe authors, teachers, podcasters, musicians, actors, playwrights, friends, and who-knows-who-elseI do not know how to thank you because your web of influence cannot be untangled. And for that I am grateful. Your complex, varied, and constant influence has helped shape me.

To the team at B&Hthis book has been a challenging process in a challenging time of life, and you have never failed to be encouraging and enthusiastic about it. For an author that is fresh air and cool water. Thank you.

Introduction

How random, a book on curiosity. Is curiosity even a thing? Can it actually be defined or described? Is it something people can conscientiously do or respond to? It seems like a trait some peopleusually children or weird peoplehave and others dont.

If curiosity is a trait received passively at birth, then what is the point of reading an entire book on something about which you have little control? Thats like reading at length about height or hair color. Curiosity just doesnt seem like the kind of idea thats actionable , and thats what most people want in a booksomething to read that tells them what to do. But curiosity is an actionable concept, and the book youre holding might surprise you with how much practical wisdom is available to curious Christians.

Im a curious person. As a curious person, the very questions posed above and others like them are why I think a book on curiosity matters! You may not think of yourself as particularly curious, but dont sell yourself short. Do you find yourself asking questions often? Thats not a sign of being dumb; its a sign of being curious. Do you find yourself wondering about seemingly random things as you drive down the road or go for a jog? Thats not daydreaming; its curiosity. Do you see little, quirky, odd things about everyday life that others might miss? Thats not odd at all; its curiosity.

For curious people, what appears to be random catches our attention. What we must explore is whether or not it is really random. Or might there be something more under the surface? In almost every case, what seems random or odd is not really; theres more to the story that just isnt obvious at first glance. It is randomness that inspired these pages. Vagueness and intangible ideas captured my mind and moved me to try to order them and give them flesh.

When most people see something that makes little sense to them, instead of engaging it, they cringe, cross the street, and hustle on their way, leaving it for someone else to deal with. They treat ideas or events that are not really in their wheelhouse the same way, whether its art, sports, science, politics, current events, or whatever. Basically, most people avoid most complex ideas and happenings that do not directly relate to their immediate needs or interests. They go about their business living in their narrow view of life.

Going about life in this manner is what I call uncuriosity, and it has consequences. Severe ones. It dramatically affects how we see the world and all its inhabitants. I unpack these side effects further in chapter 3, but here is a summary.

Side Effects of Uncuriosity

Binary Thinking

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who divide everything into two groups and those who dont. Binary thinking takes the grays of the world and insists they are either black or white. It responds to sensitive and complex situations with either/or thinking and in the end creates far more issues than it resolves.

Missed Connections

Most people in the world are strangers to us. We do not know them and because we do not know them we fear them, for the unknown and the different are scary. Instead of seeing the potential for gaps to be bridged, uncuriosity sees the gaps as protection from the foreign and frightening.

Depleted Friendships

True friendships are among the rarest of commodities. We have buddies and coworkers and neighbors but not so many friends. We lack connection with others because we fear letting them close or digging into their lives. Uncuriosity says such behavior is risky, messy, and terribly uncomfortable. It is much simpler and neater to leave people in the acquaintance zone.

Love Lost

Marriage is powerful and fragile, and it is incredibly difficult too. Marriage takes remarkable effort because love gives in to the inertia of life. It stalls and stales unless we intentionally, passionately, actively fight to keep it going and living and sparking. Only curiosity will do this because it recognizes the unknown depths of the spouse and the relationship and seeks to learn and love it all. Uncuriosity sits idly by and lets the love grow still, cold, and dead.