Developing A Case of Curiosity
I love movies. Any movie-lovers reading this?
I love movies. So does my wife. Movies are just a part of our rhythm of life. We watch movies all the time.
As I’ve reflected on some of my favorite movies over the years, I realized this common thread woven into many of my favorite movies and it was the idea of unlikely friends forming intimate relationships.
You know what I’m talking about?
We LOVE when two characters—who we view as opposites, or different or even enemies—come together for a common cause, to fight for or pursue the common good.
I put together a list of some of my favorites over the years:
- How about Legolas and Gimli? A classic pair. I love the Lord of The Rings Trilogy
- How about Buzz and Woody—The Space Ranger and the Cowboy?
- The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda aka Grogu. The most unlikely but necessary pair that we needed in 2020, can I get a witness?
- Coach Boone and Coach Yoast from Remember The Titans. (“LEFT SIDEEEEE, STRONG SIDEEEEEE”).
- Sid the Sloth and Manny the Mammoth from Ice Age. This movie defined my childhood—all the feels.
- Shrek and Donkey? Anyone? The funniest pair of the 2000’s? Hot take? I don’t know, they’re up there for sure.
Perhaps my favorite movie of all time is a movie my dad and I grew up watching together.
I’m not exaggerating, I think from the time I was born until my 3rd birthday, every single Friday night, my dad and I would sit down to take in…The Lion King.
That’s right! One of the greatest movies of all time!
I’ve even got a tattoo that’s memorialized this memory.
I love this movie. And because of that, I was introduced and indoctrinated with the relationship of a meerkat and a warthog named Timon and Pumbaa.
If you haven’t seen the movie (spoiler alert, you should have by now, it’s 27 years old), eventually these guys meet up with a lost prince of the Pride Lands in Simba. And their friendship is born all out of a single mantra and question. “Hakuna Matata!”
“What’s it mean?” Simba asks.
What does it mean?
A question that sparks a case of curiosity which eventually bonds these 3 characters into an inseparable relationship, births a phenomenal song, and sparks a mission to take back the animal kingdom for good.
Curiosity—in this instance and in so many others—was the genesis or the beginning of a formation of community.
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You see, I think so many of us struggle to live a curious life. I think a lot of us have lost the art of curiosity and the invitation it extends into living a life of compassion. If we’re being honest, so many of us are content to sit in the comfort of our context.
Our neighborhoods are filled with people who sound, look, talk, act and live just like us.
Our grocery stores and public parks too.
We move from the “real world” and log into a Facebook feed or Twitter timeline that’s perfectly curated with like-minded thinkers, believers and characters. Every day, we’re set up to miss opportunities to step into relationship with people who may appear different than us.
As apprentices of Jesus, we’re called to be set apart.
We’re called to actually move outside the bounds of our comfort and to live a curious life. We’re allow our curiosity to move us towards a compassionate lifestyle—one that engages, seeks and restores those whom society has deemed lost, less than, or other.
Now, for many of you, that sounds all nice and sweet, but that’s not reality, is it? And even if it was, I mean just look around us! The world is in complete disarray. We often feel overwhelmed, full of angst, or full of doubt on whether a curious life of compassion is even possible.
If that’s you, I want you to know that that’s okay.
“To apprentice under Jesus means to develop a level of curiosity that grows and expands not just our faith or knowledge, but our community.”
In fact, I’d say you’re perfectly positioned to step into a life of curiosity.
Curiosity which creates the community you’ve been desperately longing for.
If you find yourself in a space of doubt or fear, then a question should be arising at this point: “Where do I even begin?”
What if I told you, “right there?”
What if I told you that community is the product of a curious life?
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When I look at the life of Jesus, it’s plain to see that Jesus was so good at asking questions.
His curiosity created opportunities for him to extend compassion towards others society would have deemed inferior, less than, or other.
Jesus is notorious for befriending tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes and other, “sinners.”
He’s notorious for it!
He’s famous and infamous for befriending these outcasts!
Why aren’t we?
What if we’ve grown so accustomed to playing it safe that we’ve lost the art of living a curious life?
To apprentice under Jesus means to develop a level of curiosity that grows and expands not just our faith or knowledge, but our community.
To follow Jesus is to curiously increase our capacity to love one another.
May it be so, in us.
Be encouraged.
