The other day I found myself in a space where people were mentioning somewhat obscure things from the Bible. Some people might call those things “trivia”. It was things like “was it Elijah or Elisha that was fed by ravens by the Kerith Brook?” (It was Elijah, by the way), and things like “which Israelite judge ends up having to sacrifice his own daughter because of a vow?” (It was Jephthah.)
I learned early on that people tend to despise those kinds of questions. It’s not just that people would rather not be embarrassed by flunking the answers, but that the questions and the answers themselves seem to be…kind of trivial to us.
Sometimes we get caught in this notion that everything in the Bible needs to be immediately uber-meaningful to us. Like, we want to drop in on 2 Chronicles and find something that applies to our challenge with what is happening at work right now. Aaaand….well…sometimes, that’s not what is going on with the Bible. The Bible isn’t like a magic 8-ball or a horoscope that puts out meaningful advice in bite size pieces whenever we want. Can it do that sometimes? For sure. But that’s the exception, not the rule.
That is why “studying” the Bible is important. And yes, sometimes that “study” feels a little like memorizing trivia. Because it is giving you an overall concept of what all is happening in Scripture so that you can cross reference some stuff. It is why sometimes it is worth opening your Bible and looking to learn for the sake of learning.
I don’t know if you’ve ever tripped over a “Fandom” website. They are normally websites that are devoted to the deep understanding of TV shows and books and movie series. They are deep guides to the narrative, the interrelation of the characters, and the sometimes miniscule lore that stands behind the big action scenes. The people behind the Fandom are super nerds about their chosen field. They know a crazy amount of stuff about The White Lotus or the Marvel universe or the Three Body Problem novels. The level of their knowledge is inspiring. It’s also a little shaming. I mean, here I am, a pastor of a Lutheran church – and do I have that kind of encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture? Maybe not. Do you as a Christian? It’s maybe a call for you and I both to repent and do a little studying.
The thing is that those stories are important to the people who run the Fandoms. We say that Scripture is our most important story. Do we actually live that out though? Do we study for the sake of studying, knowing that the meaningful part will come even in the most academic of studying (and even in spite of it)? Perhaps not.
But here’s the good news – God has promised to forgive us of even this. He doesn’t want us to walk away shamed. Instead, He wants us to become superfans of His story in Scripture. That is why He has given it to us. So maybe this week Google up some Bible trivia and see how you do. Maybe it’ll show you what God is inviting you to read in His story next.