this is jeopardy

I'm a fan of Jeopardy. It has a certain appeal for a lot of folks, despite the fact that most of us have no idea what the answers are...and most of the time we don't have any clue what the clue means. But, we still watch. It amazes us that people know the things that they know.

We are mesmerized by knowledge or the appearance of knowledge. There is no doubt that some of the folks on Jeopardy are some of the smartest people on the planet, but most of the contestants aren't that smart...they've simply memorized tons and tons of random trivia.

As I was watching tonights episode (which is close 18,400; 10,800; and 18,000 heading into the final clue) I couldn't help but think of this sad reality in churches.

Too often we let the person with the most "trivia" knowledge of Christianity be the teacher. They know a ton of stuff about a ton of stuff but many times they know little of Christ and the momentous weight it holds for believers. They can often spend hours talking of little known things in the history of Christianity or in Scripture but can't spend more than a few minutes discussing the implications of the resurrection of Jesus.

Perhaps we'd be wise to choose more foolish teachers. After all, we're told that the cross is foolishness and to avoid myths and speculations (trivia).

I often wonder if at times I look more like a Jeopardy contestant rather than a lover of Jesus when I teach.

Lord, make me a treasurer of the Gospel and a teacher of truth.

-joe