"Survey Says..."

So I'm sitting in my living room watching old episodes of the Family Feud on the Game Show Network; and I'm coming to some definite conclusions.  First of all, the #1 answer is definitely not always the right answer (and maybe this wasn't even MY #1 conclusion).  It's all so very, very subjective.  Ask 100 people...get an answer.  Ask 100 different people...get a different answer.  Secondly, watching the older episodes (even from the Richard Karn days) may do more harm than good.  The 'era' in which some of these questions were asked (and answered) are direct reflections of that era.  I need all the help I can to keep my mind in the 21st century and out of the 90s (as well as the 80s, 70s and 60s...just ask my kids).  So I'm afraid hearing how one generation responds may negatively affect my thought process.  Fact is, I'm not really sure how you go about preparing for the Feud.

"One hundred people surveyed.  Top six answers on the board.
Name a test you can't study for."

Drug Test.  IQ Test.  Blood Test.  Family Feud. (well, it should have been one of top answers.  Of course, it didn't make the list).  How about when God tests your faith.  Definitely not on the list.  Perhaps you CAN study for that...

So I'm sitting in church on Sunday morning, studying for my next faith test and listening to how the Pharisees, in their attempt to 'answer' questions about the Ten Commandments, had written some 24 chapters on what you could do and couldn't do on the Sabbath (at least and still keep it 'holy' in their eyes).

"100 Rabbis were surveyed, top 300 answers are on the board.
Name something you can't do on the Sabbath!"

Some of the answers that would have made the list?  "Pick up a piece of paper." "Hold a match." "Touch a hammer."  Jesus had the best answer.

Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

In other words, "don't work so hard!"  If you have to WORK to observe the Sabbath, then you haven't RESTED.  And if the Sabbath doesn't give you rest...then it isn't WORKING!  Speaking of working...

So I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel room in Lawton, OK (where I'm working for the week) and reading the USA Today.  My kids say I gotta keep up on current topics in case there are some sort of topical questions where I need to know the top answers.  I'm scanning the headlines; well, it looks like the Supreme Court is going to have the final answer on the whole California law regarding same-sex marriages. Hmmmm...

"Alright, we surveyed nine Supreme Court Justices.  All nine of their answers are on the board.  "Name two things you can legally marry in a California wedding."

A man and a woman.  Two men.  Two women.  A man and his dog.  A teacher and her student.  A woman and her plastic surgeon (we did say Cali).  Two first cousins (Cali...not Arkansas!).  A man and a boy (hey, twenty years ago we didn't think a man and a man would ever marry).  Chocolate and Peanut Butter (old news).  Charlie Sheen and girl de jour (Two and a half marriages).

Certainly the above answers I've given as I type this (even the legit ones) would have been far different if asked (and answered) in the early days of the Family Feud.  For instance, the number one answer for this Feud question: Name the most you would pay for a pair of shoes...was $25 for Richard Dawson's show.  For John O'Hurley's show it'd be at least four times that (maybe forty times that for Steve Harvey himself).  I think Michael Jordan helped a lot of us break the $100 barrier on shoes.

So, now you're sitting there at your computer wondering where all this is going (hopefully to Fast Money).  Well, it seems to me the Supreme Court is a whole lot like modern day Pharisees...making hundreds of decisions and interpretations on THEIR foundational law, the 10 Bill of Rights; and it seems like with each decision, they find themselves further and further from the 'spirit of the law'.  Maybe if Thomas Jefferson could return and clarify it all for us (like Jesus did for the 10 Commandments), we'd get it right.  Well, wait a minute...folks didn't listen to Jesus; so a Thomas Jefferson reincarnation wouldn't make a difference either.  Brings to mind the last line of the 'rich man and Lazarus' story from Luke.

Luke 16:31 ...'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Survey the Supreme Court today; get some answers.  Survey the Supreme Court after a few more Liberal (or Conservative) appointments; get some different answers.  That's because we're not getting real answers.  We're getting real opinions....really varied opinions.  That's what really makes the Feud so difficult, so often.  The top answers aren't on the board.  The top opinions are there.

The real answer?  Discernment (or as John MacArthur pronounces it, "Dizzernment").  That's what I'm praying for as I study for the next 'faith test' (and yeah, the Family Feud too).  Sure I can usually come up with some answers to the questions.  But to get to the Fast Money; I mean if you really want to win the Big Money...you have to come up with the right ones.

So, what am I saying?  What am I asking?

Wish us 'discernment'!
("Good answer.  Good answer.  God answer!")