Controversial Curiosity

Johnny has been recommending Tribes, by Seth Godin, for some time now. After reading it, I get why.

Here is one section of the book that caused a good bit of conversation between Gary and I. I may be controversial in what I think about this, but what do you think? Here is what Godin writes:

A fundamentalist is a person who considers whether a fact is acceptable to his religion before he explores it. As opposed to a curious person who explores first and then considers whether or not he wants to accept the ramifications. A curious person embraces the tension between his religion and something new, wrestles with it and through it, and then decides whether to embrace the new idea or reject it.

Once recognized, the quiet yet persistent voice of curiosity doesn't go away. Ever. And perhaps it's such curiosity that will lead us to distinguish our own greatness from the mediocrity that stares us in the face.

We might like to think that fundamentalism is the better way to live our Christian lives. You may not admit it right away because the word "fundamentalism" holds a strongly negative connotation in our world today. But when you think of fundamentalism in contrast with curiosity, most Christians today would say we should be rigidly firm in our beliefs, our doctrine, our theology.

But did Christ affirm the fundamentalists, or the curious? I submit he took more pleasure in his curious followers. Fundamentalists stood back and determined if Christ fit into their interpretation of the Law. We see time and again that He did not. But curious people ran after Him and listened to His words. Once they knew enough, they made a decision to either "accept the ramifications" and change their lives, or walk away. They checked it out before making a decision. And those who decided to follow Him did so, not because He fit into their worldview, but because they changed their worldview to revolve around the words and life of Christ.

There is an obvious caution line here when it comes to "checking things out." I am not saying we should be open to ideas that contradict the Bible or lead us down a slippery slope, all in the name of "seeking Christ." But what I am saying is that we too often say an interpretation of Scripture that is different from ours is wrong, end of story. Or we look at someone and say they aren't serving God because they serve in a different way than we do. Or we push against someone when they don't follow our own convictions we superimpose upon them.

But why are we so afraid to run after something that could be Christ, and instead denounce it as untrue? Are we so prideful that we think we know God that well? We think we can label someone after a only moment of listening, determining they speak no amount of truth? God is bigger than the boxes we put Him in. And I think His heart is more pleased with those who curiously seek Him than those who rigidly stick to their fundamentalist beliefs.

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Lesson for Today: The counter really changes things... I understand now.