Faith brings certainty, right? Well, yes, but it’s bigger than that.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Carey Nieuwhof, Barnabas Piper, explains how his parents, John and Noel Piper, encouraged curiosity and how he came to view it not as the enemy of faith, but as its friend.
Welcome to Episode 144 of the podcast.
Guest Links
Barnabas on Episode 050
Links Mentioned
Orange Tour + Deep and Wide Tour
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
3 Insights from This Episode
1. A faith without curiosity is stagnant
If you’ve lost curiosity in your own faith, your faith will shrivel up. If you’ve settled on knowing the truth, then you don’t know the truth. Certainty has become idolatry.
We don’t know a fraction of the awe and amazement that is Christ. If we stop being curious, and think that we currently know all that God is, we put a limit on a limitless God.
Being curious also helps us fulfill the Great Commission. When we ask questions about other faiths and cultures and belief systems, we get a glimpse into how non-Christians think and what they value. How can you explain the wonder, awe and freedom of Christ to a Mormon or a Muslim, if you don’t know what they believe?
2. Great leaders are curious leaders
Curious leaders ask curious questions. They listen to the people on their team and the people they serve.
They listen to what’s happening in their field and look at what others are doing. They listen to what’s happening outside of their industry and world.
Curiosity makes you empathetic, and you need empathy to be a good leader. Leadership isn’t just about solutions, its about developing people, too — being curious is how you can do that.
3. There’s a difference between asking questions and being curious
Questions are the currency of curiosity—but true curiosity only happens when the questions are honest and humble. Not questions that are challenges, or accusations or ones that you already know the answer to. Questions that are used as a tool to share your opinion or establish authority aren’t curious questions.
Curiosity can only thrive when you are humble. It’s an acknowledgement that you don’t know everything. It’s a question that says “I have so much more to discover.”
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 144: Barnabas Piper on How Curious Leaders Gain a Distinct Advantage Click To Tweet CNLP 144: Barnabas Piper on How Curious Leaders Gain a Distinct Advantage Click To Tweet CNLP 144: Barnabas Piper on How Curious Leaders Gain a Distinct Advantage Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning.
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Next Episode: Regi Campbell
Mentoring is a buzz word these days…but how do you do it well. Regi Campbell, a serial entrepreneur, has devoted this phase of his life to creating a mentoring approach that produces incredible leaders and deep discipleship. He explains what radical mentoring is and how it’s changing lives.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 145.
