Be Intellectually and Spiritually Curious

It dawned on me recently that I graduated from high school ten years ago. Depending on who is reading this, you may think that sounds rather young or pretty old. For me, it does age my own self-perception a bit. Part of this reflection had me considering a speech I delivered at my high school graduation. Somehow, I have managed to hold on to a thumb drive from that time that has my manuscript saved on it. Hesitantly double-clicking on this word doc, I was ready to experience some secondhand embarrassment. Perhaps I was too harsh in my assumptions and ready to despise my youth (1 Tim. 4:12), but I was pleasantly surprised by my younger self. To quote myself in my speech, “I decided to address [this speech] to [fellow classmen] because I have learned that in most cases, people don’t like taking advice from others who are much younger than they are,” however, the advice I offered to my fellow classmen is advice I would still offer to anyone graduating from high school, and quite frankly, advice I would offer myself and others now—be intellectually and spiritually curious. With that said, here are some excerpts and follow-up considerations from my speech:

I would like to address how I and my fellow classmates are dressed. The question of “Why?” first arose in my mind on cap and gown picture day when we had to place these square dinner plates with curtain tassels on our head and zip up these oversized, pleated, plastic Snuggies on our bodies. So, I did some research and found the backing to such a dress code, along with many people describing it as “ridiculous” while others have described it as “distinguished” and “full of pride.”  These two pieces – the cap and the gown – have a good bit of history and symbolism behind them. The gown, originally known as an “academic dress” (there’s some good for my esteem), was worn by 12th century European scholars in every level of education. It started one fall when many students were receiving certificates for their academic achievements inside a large, open building. Of course, without heating, they had to stay warm somehow, so most of these scholars were wearing robe-like gowns when receiving their awards – the tradition started from there. ... The cap is meant to mirror a mortarboard – a flat pallet used to hold mortar for building brick walls. The symbolism there is genuine and pretty cool. We, as a group of educated individuals, are going on to build structured lives. So the tradition there does have meaning, ... and I do respect tradition. Like weddings, the bride wears a white dress and looks absolutely beautiful, and the bridegroom wears a black and white tux and looks sharp. The graduate wears… this. 

I shared my misgivings with the academic dress in my speech as an example of exploration and study before the formation of opinions. It is easy to quickly write off what you may not understand or have only seen on the surface, but it takes a certain level of mature curiosity to inform said opinion before coming to an ultimate, informed conclusion. With the ever-growing rise of the 24-hour news cycle, the rapidly expanding internet, and the effects of a globalized world, this was important at the time of my speech in 2016, and it is even more important now. The social, cultural, and political polarization and isolation that was occurring through the 2010s is now being amplified to a greater effect in the 2020s. 

In a sermon recently, I shared some of my overarching concerns with AI that I believe we should have as Christians, “Because of the internet, we have the freedom and laziness to know nothing because we have the access to know everything. And that has become vastly easier and more consequential thanks to LLMs like Chat, Gemini, Grok, etc. ... Sure, every generation has its qualms with a new piece of technology, and that happened with the internet and search engines, but let’s be honest, the internet grew so quickly that we are still figuring out its many detrimental consequences, and now, with the access to AI, we’re accelerating the good and the bad of internet access... [Looking to AI] isn’t even turning to other beings made in God’s image to explore purpose and meaning—this is turning to a faulty creation made by fallen creation and expecting to find the answers that only come from the holy Creator. It’s a shadow of a shadow.” (To see some stats on how AI is being used at-large in culture, I highly recommend this Harvard Business Review study.) 

Our intellectual curiosity is greatly dwindled when we rely so heavily on other people online and a conglomeration of their thoughts to tell us what and how to think. How are we to love God with our “heart, soul, and mind” (Matt. 22:37) when we so quickly allow other people who don’t know our hearts and can’t see our souls, use their minds to do all the thinking for us? This brings me to the second point of my speech. Not only should we be intellectually curious, but we should also be spiritually curious.

My second piece of advice is to challenge yourself spiritually. Now before you interpret that based upon how you think it sounds, let me explain what I mean. In the same way that students need to read, analyze, and form their own opinions on learned materials as well as current events, students of the Word need to personally seek out God’s will for their life through prayer and reading the Bible in what most would refer to as a personal devotion. I wish I had a more detailed approach to this topic, but honestly, it is that simple. Read the Bible, pray, seek out God’s will for your life. As not only students of high school, but students of God’s Word, you have access to God who is not only omnipotent, but omniscient.

As we turn to God for answers, we are pursuing truth while exploring the grand mysteries (Col. 4:3) of our faith. Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” When we approach creation and the Creator as though we have all the answers (or all the answers we feel we need in our flesh), we lose sight of the reverence and awe we are to have in the face of the Lord who is holy and to be feared. It is ironically simple, but I hope that this has been an encouragement to be more intellectually and spiritually curious.

As you go about creation with curious mind, don’t forget the many things God has already taught you. Don’t make the mistake I did; don’t write off some piece of advice or some experience all because it was something that happened to you years ago. God was working then, and he is working now. "Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.” (1 Chron. 16:11-12) 

Because Spurgeon almost always says anything better, I’ll conclude with some words of his, “It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores.”