Pop Quiz
by Ryan Duncan, Editor at TheFish.com
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. – Proverbs 2:6
Back when I was still in college I had a professor who loved to give pop quizzes. It drove the entire class crazy. Every day we would take our seats and wonder if, at any moment, our professor would suddenly tell us to put our books away and prepare for another quiz. Eventually, some students got fed up and decided to try and play the system. They reasoned that if the final exam made up a larger amount of their grade than the quizzes, they could coast through the smaller tests and still leave with a decent grade.
So at the end of class one day they raised their hands and asked the professor which was more important to their final grade, the pop quizzes or the final exam? Our professor seemed to consider their question for a moment, and then asked everyone to sit down.
“I know many of you don’t like that I give a lot of pop quizzes,” she said, “And as far as the University is concerned the final exam is more important. But consider this; there are no ‘final exams’ in the real world. When you leave this institution and join the rest of society, you will no longer be given the chance to apply your knowledge after a night of hard studying. Your employers, your co-workers, your teammates will depend on you to know the right answer the moment they ask you for it. The final exam may determine your overall grade, but these pop quizzes will likely determine your future.”
Looking back on this, I can now see there was a great deal of wisdom in this statement. Not just for life in general, but also for any Christian who wants to grow in their faith. God needs us to be ready for the pop quizzes that accompany the Christian life. If someone asks us to explain our faith, or if we see injustice being done right in front of us, we won’t have the chance to step back and take a moment to study. Instead, God needs us to be ready to respond correctly with grace and wisdom.
Because in the end, God isn’t concerned on the final exam, he’s more concerned on how you handle the pop quizzes.
Intersecting Faith and Life
Are you ready to be tested? Take a moment to reflect on scripture.
Further Reading
Proverbs 4:5
