The Curious Leader
By Josh Wood, Executive Director, Them Before Us
Two good things turn dangerous when they’re separated: curiosity and certainty. Embrace only one and your leadership becomes unstable.
Curiosity alone creates an anchorless ship—tossed by the wind, hesitant, unable to draw lines or make decisive calls. No anchor, no compass, no boundary.
Certainty alone calcifies—hardening in a single moment or mindset, stuck in one time and place with no real movement forward.
We need both. But here’s the problem: Christian leaders are really good at certainty. We’re not as good at curiosity.
The Defensive Posture Problem
In today’s chaotic cultural moment, the noise pushes us onto the defensive. The rise of relativism—where nothing is certain and everything is subjective—tempts many Christian leaders into a reactive stance. We feel pressured to be sure about everything, all the time, because if we’re not, who will be?
But we can’t let culture’s lack of certainty about anything force us to become incurious about everything. When the culture questions everything, our instinct is to question nothing. That false choice keeps us from leading well.
Yes, cracking the door to curiosity exposes us to bad actors who distort and manipulate. But when we’re rooted in Scripture and clothed with humility, we can seek to understand and ask before acting. Curiosity then refines our knowledge, sharpens our decisions, and helps us lead—not devoid of conviction, but informed by context.
Curiosity doesn’t weaken conviction—it strengthens it. When we test what we believe against reality, either we discover we were wrong (and move closer to truth), or we discover we were right (and our conviction deepens with evidence and experience). Both outcomes serve us. And if Christ is Truth, honest inquiry will lead us toward Him, not away.
What God Never Asked Us to Have
St. Augustine warned, “For if you comprehend, He is not God. Better a pious confession of ignorance than a rash profession of knowledge.” God never called us to absolute certainty about everything. Even with ultimate things, our understanding is real but partial. Wisdom embraces that reality—neither shrugging into relativism nor posturing in false certainty.
Mark Twain adds a practical caution: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
How Curiosity Serves Truth
Curiosity serves the pursuit of truth by compelling us to test our assumptions—to hold what we think we know up against what we actually see, hear, and experience.
How Curiosity Changes Everything
Curiosity isn’t a revolving door of opinions. It’s the humility to admit, There might be something I don’t know—and to let new understanding shape how we act, even when the facts don’t change.
Stephen Covey tells a now-classic story in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He’s on a subway when a father and his children board. The kids are loud and disruptive; the father seems oblivious. Frustration rises. Then comes the context: the children’s mother died an hour ago. The truth of the moment doesn’t change—the kids are still disruptive. But the frame changes, and with it the response: from confrontation to compassion, from rebuke to care.
That’s the invitation. We aren’t asking leaders to constantly change their minds; we’re asking leaders to be open enough that understanding might change their approach—tone, timing, questions, next step. Curiosity can’t make wrong behavior right, but it can make our response wise, patient, and human. And it’s impossible if we assume we already know who someone is and what they’re carrying. Christlike leadership makes space for people in their actual reality, not just our assumptions about it.
Five Keys for the Curious Leader
● Hold the truth lightly. White-knuckle certainty shuts down learning; an open hand makes space for people, data, and God to correct you. “This is my best view today” leaves room for tomorrow’s learning.
● Do your homework first. Learn everything you can on your own: ask two more questions, read one more chapter, pull the data, walk the block you’re funding. Openness to correction later doesn’t excuse skipping preparation now.
● Love being wrong. The only thing worse than being proved wrong is being wrong and not knowing it. Treat disconfirming evidence as a gift. Keep a “changed-my-mind” log
so you celebrate growth instead of hiding it.
● Challenge with care. Testing ideas carries risk—people tie beliefs to identity. Keep it about ideas, not persons. Ask to learn, not to win. Skip assumptions and zingers; choose clarity over victory.
● Test everything by Scripture. Curiosity is fruitful when it submits to God’s Word. Keep asking: Is what I’m learning aligned with what God has revealed? This isn’t about forcing a verse into every decision; it’s about ensuring our learning serves God’s purposes and reflects His character.
The Stakes Are Higher Than We Think
Leaders—pastors, nonprofit directors, business owners—make calls on hires, budgets, partnerships, programs, and products. Your decisions real ripple effects that impact people’s lives. It’s worth pausing to get curious, especially about the areas you feel most strongly. When we debate, learn, and explore, it matures us as leaders, improves our response to others, and deepens our life with Christ.
Questions for This Week
● Who is most affected by this decision, and have I listened to them first?
● What am I assuming about this person or situation that I should test?
● What evidence could prove me wrong, and how will I go look for it?
● Can I state the opposing view so fairly that they’d say, “That’s right”?
Moving Forward
We are people of Truth—Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” But pursuing truth requires both conviction and curiosity. If we hold them together—anchored in Christ, open to learn—we’ll keep moving toward Truth and lead our people with grace.
The world doesn’t need more defensive Christian leaders who’ve stopped asking questions. It needs curious leaders who aren’t afraid to test what they know—because they’re confident that all truth is God’s truth.
You can reach Josh at josh@thembeforeus.com.
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