Rooting for the Wrong Team

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT)

There was a man at a football game. We’ll call him Bob. He’d never been to a game, let alone watched one. This was his first exposure to the sport. He was excited to see this great American pastime in person. As Bob took his seat in the stadium, he could feel the enthusiasm of the crowd. They were cheering, singing, stomping their feet. When the home crowd scored a touchdown, the crowd roared to life, clapping, yelling, and expressing their joy. He was hooked by their passion. As the game progressed, the opposing team intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown. This was his moment. He had so wanted to join in the excitement of the other fans. So, he jumped to his feet and shouted with excitement, clapped his hands, and shouted “TOUCHDOWN!” Of course, he was the only one doing this. Instead of the crowd joining in Bob’s excitement, they were all staring at him and booing. He was really confused. Some fans even began to curse at him. He didn’t understand why they weren’t excited. A touchdown was scored, after all. The unfortunately reality is that Bob didn’t understand that the opposing team scoring was a bad thing. He just got caught up in the excitement and knew he must join in. As a result, Bob ended up rooting for the wrong team.

Jumping to conclusions can be dangerous. Of course, we all do it. We hear or see something, and immediately we’ve made a decision about how we will react. What we’ve seen or heard caused a reaction within us that riled us up, made us angry, got us excited, or convicted us that we needed to pursue something with passion. As King Solomon put it, “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.” In other words, being excited or convicted about something without actually knowing whether our assumptions are correct may leave us rooting for the wrong team.

So, how to you make sure that you don’t? Investigate, study, gain knowledge. And, here’s the kicker, when someone presents information, check their facts for yourself. If they quote something, find the quote – whether it’s from the Bible, a newscast, or a scientific study. Is the information being used accurately? Is the information reliable? In other words, gain knowledge. This requires effort. Enthusiasm can’t make up for ignorance.

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