The Welcoming Church: David Gives Pop Quizzes

For this episode of The Transforming Church, we catch up with David as he is giving pop quizzes to young people streaming out of the sanctuary after any service on any Sunday morning. He says he is having more fun than should be allowed at church.

For years David tried to engage people in conversation about the message with open-ended questions like, Wasn’t that great? What did you learn? What impacted you the most? But he never got much interaction. And he eventually gave up in discouragement and frustration.

Then one day he stumbled on the idea of giving pop quizzes to the young people. He admits that he is not very good at judging ages, so he aims for twenty-somethings and probably catches 15- to 40-year-olds. And sometimes, just for fun, he extends the age up to those who remember being young at heart.

David tries to prove there is a method to his madness. He pokes his head with both hands and explains that we want people to listen eagerly to the message like the Bereans in Acts 17:11. Then he thumps his chest with both fists and describes how we want them to hide the word in their heart like the young men in Psalm 119:9-11. Finally, he spreads his arms in a grand sweeping gesture to indicate how we want them to let it change their lives as described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4. But if they forget what they heard three seconds after walking out of the sanctuary, it won’t work.

Now, he playfully reminds the young people who are heading into the sanctuary that they must pay attention today because there might be a pop quiz on the way out.

Surprisingly, this is usually well received. Smiles! Thumbs up! And sometimes, a quick, “I’m ready.” Or even, “I might have a question for you too.”

But occasionally, a Grumpy Guss will respond rudely. When this happens, David considers it a divine appointment to pray for God’s peace to cover whatever is happening in their life as we learned in “The Welcoming Church: How to Talk with Visitors.”

Honestly, his questions are really simple, soft ball, interview questions. Almost too simple to take seriously. But he says, it’s not a test, it’s just an excuse to interact. And 90% of the purpose is to be able to tell the young people he is proud of them for coming to church and paying attention. (2 Thessalonians 1) He figures he will have been successful if thirty years from now they ask each other, “Do you remember that crazy old guy that used to ask us pop quizzes?”

The hardest part of this idea is coming up with a simple enough question that encapsulates the essence of the message in a non-trivial way. And David must invent these questions on-the-fly during the service. The positive side effect is he must pay close attention to the message even if he is pulled away from the entrance by walking a new family to family seating or helping check a new family into childcare.

David has found the best questions are based on the title, the main point of the introduction, three or four main points of the sermon, or a memorable quote in the conclusion. Although sometimes you just have to punt the ball down the field with a general question like, “What new thing did you learn about Nehemiah?”

A fun part of the creative process is trying out different ideas and variations on the greeters, pastors, ushers, security, and other ministries that are also working during the service. This is much easier than it sounds because so many people at the church are so supportive of what David is doing that they often wander by and ask, “What’s the question of the day?”

David admits there are usually several bad attempts before he arrives at a reasonable question that he can try out on anyone who happens to leave early. For instance, if the sermon had been about Hearing, Hiding, and Heeding, he might ask, “What are the three things that the pastor emphasized today?”

Then, as people are streaming out of the sanctuary, David walks up to them and holds out his hands and announces, “Pop Quiz!” And as soon as they pause, he speaks the question loudly and distinctly, so they hear it the first time. After all, nothing ruins a joke or a pop quiz like having to repeat it or explain it. Surprisingly, almost everyone is willing to participate. And almost all the responses fall into the following general categories.

Deer in the Headlights – Usually the first time David gives a pop quiz to a young person; they respond with that confused wide-eyed look that is attributed to the poor deer who steps out onto the roadway at night. Sometimes they even admit they fell asleep or weren’t listening. But David quickly reassures them that there is no judgement here. And he knows they will remember the answer as soon as they have a chance to think about it. Then he reminds them that he does this every week. And he promises to catch them next week.

Good Guessers – Some people don’t even try to remember what the message was about but just answer with the quickest thing that pops into their heads. And, since we are at church, it is usually, “Jesus!” How can that be wrong. High five! See you next week.

Noble Bereans – Many young people pay more attention that they get credit for and are quick to answer these kinds of questions. David says it’s exciting to see them learning and growing in their faith week after week. One young man named Tim said, “I don’t have time for a pop quiz, because I’m trying to figure out if Jesus is real, that changes everything.” David longs to spend the first 10,000 years in heaven catching up with each of these people and hearing the rest of their life story.

Serous Students – David’s favorite interactions involve the people who almost have the answer—right on the tip of their tongue—but not quite. The struggle to answer is awesome to behold. You would think they had been called in front of the magistrate and were waiting for the Holy Spirit to give them the answer as in Luke 12:11. He especially loves it when they ask if they can look at their notes. Yes! This is an open book quiz. Bonus points for finding the answer in their notes.

Best and Brightest – The best response ever was from three college students who came up to David and said, “We know the answer!” David was flummoxed because he had not given them the question yet. So, he asked them what do you mean? They patiently explained that they were good students who knew how to listen to a lecture, and they had taken enough of his pop quizzes that they knew what kind of questions he asked, so they were pretty sure they knew today’s question and the answer. And they were right! (Colossians 4:6)

Sadly, David explains that some parents jump in front of their children and proudly answer these simple questions instead of giving their children an opportunity. Wow, you know this simple thing, good for you. And some parents even angrily complain that they have heard this message before, and didn’t learn anything today. The worst example was The Welcoming Church: The one about the Man who Learned Nothing. Unfortunately, they are setting an awful example for their children and might be held responsible for discouraging their children from following God in any meaningful way. (Luke 17:2; Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21)

David is embarrassed to report there was a group of young people who were way too beautiful for their own good. Think of the boys and girls in “Mean Girls” or “Twilight”. They were so intimidating as they swept in and out of church that he was scared to engage them. Then one day he saw them all congregated on the other side of the courtyard, so he went over to ask them the pop quiz question of the day. As it turns out, they had been overhearing him playfully warning other people and they had been waiting for him to ask them. Now they regularly ask and answer the questions. The moral of the story is: don’t overthink it.

David encourages you to try this at your church. But he gives this caution when he describes how these pop quizzes work to friends at some churches he visits. It doesn’t work for everyone with every sermon. Some people don’t have enough fun in them to connect with the young people. And some people are too goofy to be taken seriously. Some sermons are too long and rambling to support a single coherent question. And some sermons are so theologically complicated that they cannot be simplified for pop quizzes. But this idea should work for most people about most sermons, so David urges you to try it out.

Remember, don’t take yourself too seriously. Ninety percent of the goal of these pop quizzes is to tell young people you are proud of them for attending church and paying attention. Even though they get lots of affirmation. And lots of participation trophies. Many children hardly ever get genuine approval. This means you might be the only one who tells them you are proud of them for attending church and paying attention. Imagine the eternal payoff!

The most unexpected blessing David receives is the happy look on the parent’s face when someone takes the time to interact with their children on a spiritual level. And the proud parental smile when a child answers correctly is priceless. David hopes this encourages the parents to do the same thing. It isn’t difficult and anyone could do it.

One last thing! Don’t require perfect answers. If people aren’t getting the answer, it might be your fault because it’s a bad question, so pivot to one they can answer. Remember what you were doing at their age and praise even the faintest hint of an answer. Or re-word their response into the answer, like, “Yes, ‘sharing your testimony’ is a great way of living out point number three about ‘letting your light shine.’”

Remember that you were once lost in your sins and needed to be saved by grace through faith so be quick to offer that same kind of grace to everyone.

• Romans 5:6 “For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
• 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,”
• Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!”
• Titus 3:4-5 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Other resources:

• The Welcoming Church: How to Talk with Visitors (Friends You Don’t Know Yet) – Learn how to treat visitors to your church as a divine appointment for you to welcome friends you don’t know yet into the family. This study contains helpful ideas to draw people into meaningful conversation. It also helps identify common behaviors that are counter-productive and push people away.
• Test Your Bible Knowledge: 1,206 Questions to Sharpen Your Understanding of Scripture by Wilson Casey – Trivia expert and author Wilson Casey has compiled 1,206 fascinating questions about the people, history, stories, and facts from the Bible. Each page is a separate quiz with six enlightening and fresh questions with multiple-choice answers. In addition, every correct answer includes references to the relevant chapter and verse in scripture for further study and clarification. It’s the perfect companion for the multitudes wanting to test their biblical knowledge (and keep score if desired).