With the recent surge of interest in the Bible – thanks to The History Channel's "The Bible" series and GSN's "The American Bible Challenge" game show – does knowing the number of times Delilah tricked Samson, or remembering the name of the guy whose ear Peter cut off or reciting the age of the youngest king of Judah make any difference?
Any fan of baseball knows the number of home runs Mark McGwire hit in 1998. Star Wars geeks can tell you the number of tentacles hanging from the head of the Jedi Knight Kit Fisto. Spongebob devotees can tell you what color Spongebob painted the krabby patties in episode 2. Why? Love.
A person in love can tell you the number of freckles on the nose of his girlfriend, the color of her eyes and the length of the dimples on her cheek to the closest millimeter. Why? Love, love, love. He stares with deep affection at his beloved, desiring to know every nook and cranny of her beautiful face. He can't get enough, so affection has made him an expert.
This same kind of love should make us experts in the Bible. This doesn't have to do only with knowledge, because knowledge can be dangerous. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul warned, "But knowledge puffs up while love builds up." When we flaunt our Bible knowledge, we only make ourselves look smart. Those people who watch Jeopardy and shout out the answers for everyone in the room, aren't trying to make Alex Trebek look good, they are drawing all the attention to themselves. On the other hand, if we brag about our love for God and His Word, we build Him up and encourage others with our understanding.
Knowledge for the sake of knowledge makes us arrogant. Knowledge for the sake of love turns us into passionate nerds for the Bible. We should know the Bible because we love it, staring at it for hours, losing ourselves in its comforting words and anxious for the hope it brings.
Knowing Bible trivia is no trivial matter, as long as it reveals our love for God's gift to us.
Troy Schmidt is a campus pastor at First Baptist Church Windermere, FL and a writer/ consulting producer for "The American Bible Challenge" on GSN. His latest book, "The American Bible Challenge Daily Reader: Volume 1," is in stores. You can find out more about him at www.troyeschmidt.com.