“Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.”
Proverbs 1:23

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In my life, one of the hardest responses for me to give is “I don’t know.”

Whether it’s someone new to their faith asking one of the many, many hard questions we wrestle through in our faith, a friend struggling for rationale in complex family issues, or my own kids asking about their math assignment (y’all they changed math, I have no idea what this is), responding with “I don’t know” is hard. It makes me feel a lot of things—helpless, unsure, incompetent, unhelpful—maybe all of the above. 

As hard as it is to admit I don’t know, the harder thing I’ve learned is that when I admit I don’t know, I actually open myself up to something different—curiosity. 

When we lack curiosity, there’s little room for new information. We become certain about things, seeing them as right and wrong, black and white, this way or no way. We lose the ability to see nuance, shift our posture, or see other perspectives. Our own arrogance gets in the way of everything else. 

Instead, curiosity invites us to embrace new ideas, ways of thinking, and alternate possibilities. It allows us to see the world through the eyes of others and invites us to better understand all the things we don’t yet understand.  

Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.” Socrates is recognized as the founder of Western philosophy. Entire models of teaching and learning stemmed from his recorded dialogues. And yet, rather than push ideas, he echoed an ancient call to something else—humility. Saying “I don’t know” is an acknowledgment of our own fallibility and limitations and an invitation to embrace humility as a pathway to curiosity. 

We can’t be curious if we aren’t humble enough to admit we don’t know everything. 

The book of Proverbs begins with a declaration from the character Lady Wisdom, the embodied personification of wisdom from the Lord, calling out to those who seek to be wise to first declare their own fallibility. Repent! Declare where you fall short. Acknowledge what you don’t know. Understand that what you have to learn is greater than what you know. Only then can wisdom be poured out upon you. 

The simple act of repentance, opening ourselves up in acknowledgment of our shortcomings, is an act of humility. Only when we embrace humility can we invite curiosity—a catalyst for knowledge and wisdom. 

Next Steps

Where have you allowed pride to blind you to growing and learning? Reflect on the areas in your life that feel stuck and see if there’s anything that needs confessing. Embrace the act of confession as a way to invite curiosity into that area.