Passion is Overrated: Follow Your Curiosity Instead

Years ago, I sat across the table at a coffee shop with a new acquaintance. We were waiting for a church service to start and made small talk. Without a warm-up, he gushed, “What’s your passion?” I was taken aback and froze. He sat there staring at me as if he had just asked the world’s easiest question.

I mumbled some random thing I was interested in, but couldn’t give a precise answer.

I felt guilty.

Is something wrong with me?

His matter-of-fact tone made it seem as if I was supposed to have an answer.

I didn't.

Now, after years of studying calling and helping people find their God-given purpose, I realized that you don't need to find your passion to find your calling. There's a better way.

Here is why passion is overrated and why curiosity is a superior tool for finding your calling.

Passion is Like Your Cat

The first reason passion is inferior to curiosity is that it's a strong emotion. Feelings, by nature, are inconsistent, unreliable, and whimsical. They come and go and vary in intensity and duration, as all feelings do. They are simply information, as my mentor taught me, and teach you what you value.

Passion is like your fickle Siamese cat. Passion, like a cute kitty, does what it wants. You can’t incite passion to come to you at a moment’s notice any more than you can coax Fluffy to sit on your lap when she doesn't feel like it. She visits on her terms, not yours.

In light of calling, passion might indicate what God is calling you to do, but it might not. The point is, you can’t rely on it, as it's only one of the many pieces of data you need to solve your calling puzzle. If you make a major career move for passion and, after six months, the feeling fades, would you leave?

Notice passion. Journal about it. Explore where it might lead. But take it as one piece of information—that's all.

Curiosity, on the other hand, is softer but sustainable. It comes from the Latin words meaning "careful" and "inquisitive." Curiosity is the steady and consistent interest flickering in your heart; passion is a temporary flame. Curiosity is the soft, warm light that guides you, while passion is the shooting star that glows brightly and fades over time.

We'll talk more about curiosity in a minute. First, I thought I was going to Asia.

I'm Going to Asia! (But I Didn't)

When I was younger, I intensely listened to one speaker at my church who dedicated his life to giving Bibles to unreached people groups in Asia. His words lit me up, and I felt an immediate urge to book a ticket to Myanmar.

My girlfriend heard the same sermon. I told her I wanted to go immediately, but she didn't share my conviction. I was shocked. I thought, How could someone love Jesus and not want to travel halfway around the world give an unreached people group God's Word?

I thought, Could I really be with a woman who doesn't share my passion? Looking back, I laugh at myself.

The fact that she wasn't ready to do what I wanted at that exact time said nothing about her faith or our relationship. It said everything about my immaturity.

A week later, my zeal for that specific ministry waned. Three more weeks went by, and I forgot about it altogether. What was the truth of that situation? I was impetuous.

Again, the best way to work with passion when it sparks is to give it time. If you suddenly feel passionate about becoming a lawyer to fight injustice, going to seminary, or becoming a teacher, check in with yourself after a few weeks and see if it's still indicating the same level.

If it dipped, why? Whatever level you're feeling at that point—low, mid, or high—it shouldn't be the final decider on what you do next anyway.

If it's still burning, that's a good sign you need to take the next step. Test it. Pray about it. Talk to your pastor or mentor, and to your friends, about it. If they support you, that's another positive piece of information you need to take it further.

Curiosity is like the wise uncle, and passion is like his fervant but untamed nephew. Can the young man speak the truth? Absolutely. Would you want him to make any of your big decisions in life? No. The wise uncle would listen, take into consideration what's stirring in his young nephew's heart, and seriously consider it.

True Passion is Suffering

Are you the kind of person who has a heart for multiple things or ministries? Several injustices stir my soul, such as extreme poverty, malnutrition, incarcerated youth, and lonely, forgotten people who don’t have anyone to talk to. It breaks my heart to see the elderly in homes with no one to spend time with them.

Yet even if we transform the question from 'What is your passion?' to 'What are your passions?', it still falls short because the latter question strains the diaphanous idea that passion is crucial to finding a career. It’s not.

This is a good time to say that God loves passionate people, especially when they are passionate for Him, His ways, and doing His works. In Revelation, God rejects the Laodican Church because they are lukewarm:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

As modern-day Christians, we don't know exactly what "lukewarm" meant here, but it's negative. Scholars believe the area of Laodica dIt could have been that the church had tepid faith or weren't witnessing to others. Whatever the case, they were not a passionate church.

Romans saysDo not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

the point with passion is that

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Re 3:15–16.

If you have multiple passions, the answer is to explore them, try them out one by one, and see what you can do to turn one into a sustainable, life-giving career that honors God and blesses others. There are ways to do this, as I’ll hopefully explain in future articles.

God only calls you to do what is best next, not to integrate every single passion you have into a single career or calling. That would be impossible.

Some passions are meant to be seriously explored; others God gives you to pray for. There are too many people to help, and you cannot do them all. Trust that He will tap others on the shoulder to actually do something about them. Ten lifetimes would be enough for me to explore everything I want to on this earth.

Follow Your Curiosity

Curiosity makes a great leader, and passion makes a great follower. Everyone has curiosity, and exploring multiple curiosities won't lead to impulsiveness.

Curiosity is what you’re interested in—the things, ideas, or jobs that catch your attention. So, pay attention to what you pay attention to. Notice what you notice. What problem in the world makes you take a second look? If you were overhearing a conversation, which one would make your ears perk up? What science, business, or other area do you want to learn more about?

If passion is a raging inferno, curiosity is a spark. The good news is that, unlike passion, everyone has flickers of interest, as I mentioned.

What are you curious about? Could you follow it long enough to read a book about it? Or, why not interview someone in that field or watch a YouTube video? Start with the low-hanging fruit that curiosity provides and go from there.

The key is to follow this inspiration long enough to see where it leads. It could guide you to a hobby, a career, or nothing at all. Not all sparks start fires. Closed doors are helpful because now you can check those fruitless experiences off your list. As my mom says, when you hit a wall, turn.

You’ll probably have to try different things, gain experience, and take some risks before knowing what career is a good fit for you. Curiosity, unlike passion, won’t cease throughout your life. The point is to be a student of yourself and listen to the whisper of curiosity.

Get counsel from godly advisors on how you sense the Lord is speaking to you. In addition, what does wisdom say? Do your circumstances right now allow you to go all-in on this endeavor, or will you go at it piecemeal?

God is with you on your journey as much as he is when he endows people with a passion for a particular profession. And the Lord always cares more about who you are becoming in the process, as he does with you finding a job you love.

Curiosity is essential to find your calling, but not passion. The latter is optional. Embrace passion when it stops by, like you would Fluffy the Cat.

NOTES

Follow the Real Meaning of Passion

Remember, I’m not talking about the original meaning of passion, but about its modern usage. Passion was the original word for Christ’s suffering on the cross. If this is how you use passion—as something you're willing to do for, by all means and at all costs and is sustainable, follow your passion.

But we don’t use the term like this today. When people say passion, they refer to an emotion.

Others can get zapped with passion, like William Wilberforce. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, he knew his call to abolish slavery and dedicated his life to the fight. His passion for justice greatly impacted the United States and the world. Closer to home, a friend of mine knew he wanted to be a medical doctor early on and dedicated the next eight years of his life to studying. Another realized that her passion for kids could best be used by being a kindergarten teacher.

NOtes

In the context of a career, passion is a good thing—if you have it. A strong desire is sometimes needed to ignite action, giving you the motivation to ask someone out or to kickstart a new business. I’m sure William Wilberforce looked at the atrocities of his cause and was struck by a passion to change his country's oppressive laws.

Passion for a field can be like glue, keeping you where you are on a bad day or when you want to give up. Carrying a burden and a passion are very similar.

Many people, however, won’t have this powerful, life-changing experience with passion. This feeling is unreliable, and we often have more than one.

All jobs have dull days and challenging seasons. You could get a new boss you don’t click with and run for the hills. Or, you might need to change careers or get more training, but don’t do it for lack of passion.

Passion feels fantastic and can sometimes help us get started in a new direction. It’s a lovely fuel that makes us feel good and motivates us to get stuff done. But passion is unreliable and uncontrollable, so why would you attempt to base your career on it?

If he does, great! But you don’t need it and can’t expect it to come. Passion isn’t the best motivation, anyway. So, it’s totally OK (and normal) not to know what your passion is. Most of us will experience a sinuous professional path. God is always with you, and “He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deut 31:6).

In the truest sense of the word, follow your passion. But that means you'll be suffering.

Asking What is your passion? is not the best question when trying to find a career you love.

If you have a single passion that God gave you, be thankful. It is a gift; enjoy it. Now you can share what the Lord has put on your heart and maybe turn it into a beautiful career.

Otherwise, passion is ambiguous and unreliable, and not the best thing to seek when you're trying to find your calling. Ultimately, it’s inconsequential in seeking your professional purpose. It can be one indicator in helping you decide which career choices to make, but another criterion—one which we all share—is better.