What if Wonder is the Goal?

Bynum’s charge is rooted in a posture of curiosity—a readiness to be surprised by what we read, hear, and experience. She invites us to slow down, to sit with texts and traditions long enough to be puzzled, even confused. Not to retreat from that discomfort, but to lean into it.

What if we approached the Bible this way?

Not just as a sourcebook for right living or prooftexts for doctrine, but as an unfolding story that continues to surprise, disrupt, and inspire us. What if we read Scripture with the same gaze of wonder Bynum hopes to cultivate in students—“quick to assume there is a significance, slow to generalize about it”?

Leading with Curiosity, Not Certainty

For parents and leaders of faith, this posture can be transformational. Rather than thinking of ourselves as those who must have the answers, we become those willing to ask the questions—sometimes unanswerable ones—and to sit in the mystery with our children, students, or community members.

In a world where so much pressure exists to present tidy conclusions or spiritual certainty, this shift might feel radical. But it can be liberating. What if your family’s spiritual life was marked not just by habits of prayer or Bible study, but by a shared pursuit of awe?

Imagine:

• A dinner table conversation where everyone shares a question they’re wondering about God.

• A Bible story told, not with the goal of drawing moral lessons, but with an invitation to “be astonished.”

• Faith leaders modeling vulnerability by admitting what they don’t know, and encouraging the curiosity that leads others deeper.

A Different Kind of Faith Formation

“Astonish and be astonished.” It’s more than a call to teach—it’s a vision for formation shaped by humility and reverence. It’s the kind of faith that doesn’t rush to conclusions but walks slowly through sacred texts, leaving room for surprise.

So what might change if you adopted this approach?

• Would your children feel more freedom to ask big, unanswerable questions about God?

• Would your community become a place where wonder is welcomed, not shut down?

• Would you begin to experience the Bible in new ways, no longer constrained by what you’re “supposed” to see, but open to what’s actually there?

Let’s make room for a faith that puzzles, amazes, confounds—and ultimately astonishes. And let’s be willing, always, to be astonished ourselves.