Should an old fart
like me quiz?
An Editorial by Andy Gropp
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Should an old fart An Editorial by Andy Gropp |
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In my personal opinion, any adult involved in teen quizzing should also be involved in adult quizzing. I know not everyone will agree with this. I also know that not everyone's schedule allows them to show up for every adult event. But I think that at least once every few years it would be better for the teen program as a whole if the adults running it spend a Saturday at an adult quiz.
Why quiz as adults? There are a number of reasons. To start out, all the reasons quizzing is good for teens make quizzing good for adults. Almost no other program in the church gets people to memorize hundreds of verses of scripture. It is good for your personal relationship with Christ to put his word in your mind.
Be warned, if you do decide to take part in an adult tournament many of the following will happen:
 | You will start out with good intentions and then run out of time. |
| You will not feel prepared when the first quiz starts. |
| Your legs will be sore by the end of the weekend. |
| Your palms and underarms will start sweating. |
| You will have major butterflies in your stomach. |
| You will jump after the word "question". |
| You will finish the question, go brain dead and run out of time before giving the answer. |
| You will answer "God" when you know the answer is "Christ" |
| You will feel like a fool, you will do something stupid, and you will embarrass yourself. |
All of these are reasons that you SHOULD quiz. As adults we forget how easy it is to freeze. We forget how much pressure we can put on ourselves and how stressful it can be to not live up to our own expectations or the expectations of others. It will help put things in proper perspective and make you a better coach/quizmaster/leader if you remind yourself from time to time what the teen quizzers go through.
Quizzing as an adult also sets a good example. You are walking the talk. You are saying "do as I do" - not just "do as I say". It makes it easier for the quizzer to respect your advice and leadership if you do it by example. It also gives the teen quizzer a chance to act as coach, quizmaster, answer judge. They may see that it's not as easy as it looks.
One of the best reasons to take part in adult quizzing is that it brings new adults and churches into quizzing. Every time we have an adult quiz, new adults and new churches are involved. Don't just quiz for you. Do it and try to get the parents of teens involved, or use it as a way to help plug a new adult into the church. Every time a new adult catches the quizzing bug it is possible for a new teen program to get started. The key to most consistently successful quiz teams is the adult leadership. If new churches are going to join quizzing, we need to expose new adults to quizzing. It is one thing to watch quizzing, it's another to experience first hand the thrill of competition and benefits of memorization. Adult quizzing may be the best sales tool for growing teen quizzing.
Maybe the best reason to be involved in adult quizzing is that it's a blast. It is work, but there is nothing quite like sitting on the bench in actual competition. It will help you develop new relationships with other adults in quizzing and improve relationships with any teens that take part.
For all of these reasons and many more that I did not list, I hope you will seriously consider taking part in some future adult quiz event. If you are interested in writing questions, hosting an event, or being involved in some other way, please contact me.