So you think you're good at quizzes. OK, answer these five correctly and you can be in my quiz team anytime.Q1. Which is the tallest building in the world?
Q2. How long does it take Jupiter to complete one orbit of the sun?
Q3. What is the name of the tower that houses Big Ben?
Q4. Who invented Lacrosse?
Q5. Does Qur'an (Koran) mean recitation, religion or faith?
I ask these because they appeared in a newspaper at the weekend and here's the sore point, they're from a CHILDREN'S encyclopedia and I didn't know the answer to any of them. (You can check the answers at the end of this blog, but only if you read it all first!!)
I love a good quiz. There is a real satisfaction in knowing the answers to the question master's posers, though to be honest, sometimes it largely depends on the subject. For example, I reckon I have a reasonable knowledge of geography, of sport, of popular music and of general knowledge. But within any of those categories, I can can be hopelessly lost. I suppose my geography is largely dependent on what I learnt about the world at primary school, you know, all those capitals, rivers, mountains and the like and also what I picked up from my interest in sport, especially football, with regard to towns and cities in certain countries. Also, as a child I would often s[pend time just browsing the atlas and finding places in different countries. But, I haven't done much of that in the past twenty years so all the new countries that have arisen or changed their names, do make it a lot harder. The same goes with sport and I probably notice it best when I watch a programme like 'A Question of Sport' now and can't even recognise some of those taking part, let alone the questions. It was easier years ago, in the days of David Vine and David Coleman (who are they, I hear you ask?) when I followed every conceivable sport closely but now I just dip in and out of them and have what I would call 'a conversational knowledge' but nothing more. So most of the time, when I watch the programme now, I do so in a much more passive way than previously. And I suppose music is the same too, since most of my knowledge seems to end rather abruptly in the early nineties an my factual appreciation of classical and jazz has never been a forte anyway. So I guess the perfect quiz, to suit everyone, has never been made and that's why when you go along to a Table Quiz, it's so vital to have the right mix of males and females and a variety of ages so that such diverse things as fashion, soap operas, cooking, horse racing, languages, football, history and celebrities are an interest to someone in your team.
When sister and I were young, we would spend hours on a Sunday afternoon or evening, plaguing mum to ask us questions from the Bible quiz books she used at some of the children's meetings she took. There were questions on virtually every Bible topic from The Garden of Eden , through David and Goliath and including the miracles and parables of Jesus. I always remember that was where I learned about Methuselah, at three hundred and sixty nine years of age, being the oldest man who ever lived and also about a guy called Nimrod being Noah's great grandson and also being a 'mighty hunter' by occupation. I don't know how we learned all this information because I don't recall reading about that gentleman in the Bible as a child. I suppose we did the quizzes so many times that after a while some things just seemed to stick in the brain. But it was great fun and that was where I learned so many of the Bible facts that I was able to store up for years.
Don't we all rely a little bit on our past knowledge sometimes? But as a Christian you can't do that because every day is a new experience with God and every day HE wants to teach us something new in order that we might grow. So it can be very easy to draw on our past learning, you know, all those Bible verses and facts that we gathered up as children and think that we can survive just by producing them at the right moment. Let me tell you it's not enough. God isn't really interested in whether or not I knew Noah's descendant was a hunter, but he is concerned if I haven't grown as a Christian since the day I learned that fact. And I should be concerned too. You see it's not just about head knowledge, it's about what is going on in you heart, or if you wish to put it another way, whether your life really reflects the love of Jesus and the work of His Spirit. The Psalmist writes 'Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Saviour.' I don't see anything about our knowledge of Biblical facts getting us admittance into the Holy of Holies. Our heart's desire should be to become more like Jesus and the Psalmist again reminds us in chapter 37 'Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.' Do you know how you come to delight in something. By spending time reflecting on it. Maybe it's time to ask the questions that really matter about your life and your eternity. And you'll not find any of the answers in a quiz book.
ANSWERS: Q1:Taipei 101 Q2: 12 earth years Q3: St Stephen's Tower Q4:Native Americans Q5:recitation (5/5 = genius, 3/5 = better than most, 1/5 = don't give up your day job, 0/5 = welcome to our club!)
