Leadership Journal

Ken Jennings, that 30-year-old computer software engineer from Salt Lake City, finally lost on Jeopardy!, but not before boosting ratings of the game show by 100 percent, not to mention boosting his bank account by $2.5 million. In 74 consecutive appearances, he won the hearts of millions. A grandmother in Portland, Oregon, lapsed into a coma following congestive heart failure and when she eventually came to, the first thing she wanted to know was if Jennings was still defending his title. I wonder if she would have asked Saint Peter the same question, had she not revived.

The crowning of the new quiz king has me remembering my own days as a quizmaster in pursuit of biblical trivia. When I was a kid, the leaders of the youth department were big on trivia. We started with sword drills. Our church was not pacifist in this pursuit; in fact, you might say we had a proliferation of arms. Someone would call out a specific chapter and verse in the Bible and my peers and I would race to be the first to locate the verse, stand, and read it—loudly.

Then competition escalated to Bible quizzing. Our quiz teams competed first against each other, then with teams from other congregations. There was even a national championship. Although our team never advanced that far, I still remember a ton of trivia that I thought at the time would serve me well someday.

For example, I know that Eglon was the Moabite king who joined arms with Ammon and Amalek to overcome Israel. I still can recall that Ehud the Benjamite was left-handed. I may not know where my cell phone is, but I remember that Tiglath-Pileser the First was succeeded by Ulula (pronounced oo-loo-lah), that the price of David's mail-order bride was 200 foreskins (before sales tax), that there are 31,174 verses in the Bible, and that Methuselah lived longer than any other person in history (969 years). While some of my colleagues are tempted with pride when it comes to their ability to preach, I revel in my ability to recall obscure facts.

But be warned. The facts get fuzzy after some years. Bildad the Shuhite was not the shortest man in the Bible. ("Shoe-height," get it?) Check your facts; Ken Jennings might show up in your church one Sunday. And if he does, he needs more that just facts.

I always did well on those general Bible knowledge exams they require you to take in seminary. But it took a patient homiletics professor to help me realize that effective preaching requires more than proficiency with statistics. The people we preach to need more than a walking Halley's Bible Handbook.

Our hearers aren't interested in just the facts—if they're interested in facts at all. My professor was demanding when it came to exegesis and word studies. But Dr. Hjelm made it clear to us would-be preachers that those who sit before us Sunday after Sunday want to know more of Jesus than just what the Greek says. What's behind the text, beneath it? What happens because of it? The truth of the passages must filter through ...