When Trivia is not Trivial
22/03/09 11:00
Two Canadian
young men were playing Scrabble one evening in
December and decided to invent their own game. Chris
Haney and Scott Abbott invented the board game
sensation, Trivia Pursuit, back in December of 1979.
It was trademarked registered in 1981 and has since
swept America by storm. The game consists of
questions that players are asked and when answered
correctly, they move their piece toward the goal, to
win the game. This is the same premise of the many
television game shows that have been entertaining us
for years. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are just two
that America is infatuated with.
Jeopardy first aired in March of 1964 and has filled our living rooms for forty-five years of trivia. What is trivia? According to Webster’s dictionary printed in 1963, trivia wasn’t even a word. Trivial was in there, but not trivia. Now, according to Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary printed in 1993, trivia is defined as: “insignificant or unimportant matters.” Trivial is defined as: of little value or importance. A typical trivia question would be something like this: What is the name of the games that were first held in ancient Greece, every four years, in honor of Zeus? That’s right –the Olympics! How about this one; what is the name of a small three-masted, Mediterranean aquatic vessel, formerly used by Algerian pirates? Who cares, right? Exactly. And that is why they call it trivia.
Do you remember being in school asking yourself why you had to learn certain things that you were sure would never enter your adult life? We thought that stuff was just as trivial, didn’t we? But have you ever wondered why we (American people) have had this love affair with trivia. Does it make me any smarter than the next guy if I know how many miles the red knot sandpiper travels in its migratory treks?
Now, I am not sure who brought the trivia frenzy into the Christian world but I am sure that their intentions were honorable. You know, it is one way to get Bible knowledge into us! It will make Bible learning fun! It will be something for the whole family to do together! Good quality time for parents and kids.
But, and I’m just making an observation here, are we sublimely associating Holy Scripture with insignificant, unimportant matter? Now, I’m not suggesting that we have a bon-fire and burn all our Bible Trivia games, but I am just trying to show us that what may have begun with good intentions may have become harmful in a very subtle way. Paul tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God. This tells me that anything written in Holy Writ is of great value and very important.
Bible Trivia is a misnomer and if you are saying, “Lighten up, Pastor, it’s just a game.” I’ll have to say, “Yes, you’re right, it’s just a game –it’s just a game.” Trivia has become so common place in our lives that we are turning into a very trivial culture where even important information is being processed in the same way trivia is. The way that we think about information that our brains receive is just as important as the information itself. In other words, retain the important stuff and disregard the trivia.
Just a thought: Do you think that we may have trouble meditating upon Scripture because our minds are already full of the trivial and we have so trained ourselves to think about trivia for a “minute” and then toss it out, that maybe, we do the same with Holy Scripture? Is it possible that we have been duped into thinking that there really is something called Bible “trivia”? Do I have trouble retaining Scripture because I treat its information in the same way I treat all other information? These are just a few questions that I have been troubled with here lately. My prayer is that this little observation may be just as troubling to you.
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Jeopardy first aired in March of 1964 and has filled our living rooms for forty-five years of trivia. What is trivia? According to Webster’s dictionary printed in 1963, trivia wasn’t even a word. Trivial was in there, but not trivia. Now, according to Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary printed in 1993, trivia is defined as: “insignificant or unimportant matters.” Trivial is defined as: of little value or importance. A typical trivia question would be something like this: What is the name of the games that were first held in ancient Greece, every four years, in honor of Zeus? That’s right –the Olympics! How about this one; what is the name of a small three-masted, Mediterranean aquatic vessel, formerly used by Algerian pirates? Who cares, right? Exactly. And that is why they call it trivia.
Do you remember being in school asking yourself why you had to learn certain things that you were sure would never enter your adult life? We thought that stuff was just as trivial, didn’t we? But have you ever wondered why we (American people) have had this love affair with trivia. Does it make me any smarter than the next guy if I know how many miles the red knot sandpiper travels in its migratory treks?
Now, I am not sure who brought the trivia frenzy into the Christian world but I am sure that their intentions were honorable. You know, it is one way to get Bible knowledge into us! It will make Bible learning fun! It will be something for the whole family to do together! Good quality time for parents and kids.
But, and I’m just making an observation here, are we sublimely associating Holy Scripture with insignificant, unimportant matter? Now, I’m not suggesting that we have a bon-fire and burn all our Bible Trivia games, but I am just trying to show us that what may have begun with good intentions may have become harmful in a very subtle way. Paul tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God. This tells me that anything written in Holy Writ is of great value and very important.
Bible Trivia is a misnomer and if you are saying, “Lighten up, Pastor, it’s just a game.” I’ll have to say, “Yes, you’re right, it’s just a game –it’s just a game.” Trivia has become so common place in our lives that we are turning into a very trivial culture where even important information is being processed in the same way trivia is. The way that we think about information that our brains receive is just as important as the information itself. In other words, retain the important stuff and disregard the trivia.
Just a thought: Do you think that we may have trouble meditating upon Scripture because our minds are already full of the trivial and we have so trained ourselves to think about trivia for a “minute” and then toss it out, that maybe, we do the same with Holy Scripture? Is it possible that we have been duped into thinking that there really is something called Bible “trivia”? Do I have trouble retaining Scripture because I treat its information in the same way I treat all other information? These are just a few questions that I have been troubled with here lately. My prayer is that this little observation may be just as troubling to you.
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
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