Where’s Your Christlike Curiosity?

True Story

It’s my earliest memory of church as a kid, and it also just so happens to be my first memory of a question being asked. It was a sunny Sunday morning, and our first-grade class got to go outside for the Bible lesson. The large ants crawling up the oak tree captivated my attention completely; the flannelgraph lesson did not. As Noah’s raven and dove were stuck on the scene, the little lass next to me, Lilly Denodo, shot up her hand. Without waiting to be called on, she chirped up, “Teacher, can birds fly to heaven?” Her question arrested my attention. My imagination was filled with birds soaring up toward the throne-room of God! Would they break through?

BOOM!!!

Her question was shot down as our teacher sharply responded, “Lilly, do not interrupt the Bible lesson with questions!” True Story. As the feathers of my fantasy flock floated down to this cold, cruel clod of dirt below, I learned right then and there that Bible lessons and Questions don’t mix.

…Or don’t they?

The God-Given Gift of Curiosity

From their earliest years, kids are endowed by their Creator with the glorious gift of curiosity. This insatiable appetite for learning and discovery is expressed in the form of questions. As they grow, their questions mature from basic information-seeking into a desire for stories that make sense of the world around them.

“When will we be there?” turns into “Why are we going…?”
“What is that called?” soon becomes “How does it work?”
and “Will you tuck me in?” graduates to “Why can’t I stay up with you?!”

A simple Google search will show that preschool kids ask about one question every two minutes, averaging 200-300 questions per day! For parents like mine who had 8 kids, and for teachers with classes of 20+ students, answering all their questions sounds like an impossible task. But far beyond facts and quick answers, children crave connection and adventure. This is true not only of the kids we raise, teach, and serve, but also of the most important child who ever lived.

The Inquisitive Christ

It might surprise grown-ups to learn this, but Jesus was a very curious kid. And no, that’s not my own speculation, inference, or conjecture. The single scene that the Gospel records of his boyhood, and we’ll find Jesus exploring, listening, learning, and questioning. I’m sure you know the story, but read it with a fresh lens on and see if something new jumps out. Zooming in on Luke 2:42-53, we find Jesus at the ripe age of 12, lingering in the Temple after Passover to explore. (Why he didn’t at least send Mary and Joseph a text to let them know he was staying behind, I can’t figure out.) Luke records the glorious scene of his panic-stricken parents finding Him.

“After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Luke 2:46 NIV

Did you notice it? Apparently, asking questions in the middle of Bible lessons isn’t an interruption but is a rather Christlike thing to do. For Jesus, listening to the teachers of the Torah and studying the Scriptures automatically led to asking questions. (Someone please tell Lily if you see her.)

What happens next is equally remarkable. Mary, with mingled anxiety and relief, reprimands Jesus, saying, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you!” And then we read the first recorded words from the mouth of the incarnate Word. In classic Jesus fashion, He does not answer her question directly. He replies to her question with two questions of His own. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:48-49 NIV)

Answering questions with more questions becomes a distinguishing feature of Christ’s ministry. In fact, of the 183 questions that Jesus is asked, he only gives a direct answer to three of them! Now here’s a question for you to guess and pass on to your nerdy friends who like Bible Trivia: How many questions do you think Jesus asked in His ministry? Ponder your answer, read on, and I’ll give you the answer at the end.

Exploration Over Information

In the church culture I grew up in, questions and questioning were often seen as doubtful, harmful, and perhaps even sinful. After all, the first question recorded in the Bible led to the fall of humanity! “Did God really say…?”

Yes, there are plenty of tricky trick questions out there, and it’s not a matter of IF our kids will encounter them, but WHEN they will. When they do, will they be prepared and equipped to wrestle with their BIG questions? My generation of church-going kids grew up being taught WHAT to believe. Our inheritance was a second-hand faith. Countless friends of mine grew up, went off to college, and deconstructed their faith as soon as their salty secular professors posed a few hard questions to them about WHY they believed God’s Word to be true.

This is why I came up with a motto that gives kids ownership and responsibility to investigate their own questions. When I’m asked BIG questions (especially ones I don’t know the answers to immediately), I reply, “Each and every QUESTION is a QUEST that I am ON! So will you be my guest on this quest to find the answers?!”

Kids love this because it empowers them to seek and find for themselves. It’s astounding how many kids come back the following week with their own discoveries. Give it a try sometime! My catchphrase is yours to borrow for keeps.

In Case You Are Still Curious…

I’m a firm believer that when people stop asking questions, they stop growing. I’ve walked with Jesus for nearly two decades, and the more I study his Word and follow his ways, the more questions I have. My pastor once expressed this same conviction and said, “Anyone who reads the Bible and doesn’t walk away with some serious questions isn’t reading it thoughtfully enough.”

But we shouldn’t expect to get all the answers we’re looking for right away, and wisdom says we should help children understand the same truth in their faith journey with Jesus. For some, having unanswered questions will be a deal breaker, but Jesus, who asked over 330 questions in his life, also cried out a question in His death. “My God, My God, WHY have You forsaken Me?!” His question was met with silence from God. No answer of words was given from heaven.

Someone might justly ask, “How can I follow a God that doesn’t even answer His own Son’s cry?” To that, we might want to try Jesus-method and answer their question with a question of our own. “What other King can personally understand our feelings of God-forsakenness and validate our desperate need to ask God, “WHY?!”

Whether it’s big questions that you yourself are still wrestling with, or countless questions that your kids are bombarding you with, take the example of our Lord Jesus as an encouragement to cultivate curiosity. Resist the temptation to impart information, and seek rather to inspire investigation, imagination, and exploration! And may the King of curiosity and questions bless you in your quest.