5-2-17
Hello there. Thanks for visiting with me again. It’s nice to have you stop by.
Why not make yourself comfortable? Help yourself to a beverage and a snack.
Let’s watch a little TV, shall we? Take an imaginary trip to days gone by….in Mayberry.
If you have Amazon Video, Netflix, or have the Andy Griffith Show on DVD, watch Season 6 Episode 29 “The Battle of Mayberry”.
Watch the episode, and then we’ll talk about it below.
Enjoy!
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That was pretty good, even for a non-Barney Fife episode. I was watching this with my wife last Saturday morning and realized how profound a message is in this little 25 minute story.
Just to recap some of the main storyline events:
- A prize is offered to the students for the winning essay about the “historic Battle of Mayberry”
- We find out quickly that many of the citizens are very proud of their history, and each family has their own hero (apparently there were many Colonels in the battle!)
- The Taylors, Floyd Lawson, Goober Pyle, and Clara Edwards all have a different version of the history of the battle and none believe the others account. In fact, Goober and Floyd part ways, and Aunt Bee and Clara almost do the same.
- Clara Edwards even has a sword to back up her story.
- Opie interviews Tom Strongbow, a descendant of Cherokee Indians, and he provides yet another version of the battle, which differs greatly from all the others put together. He also produces a bullet that he claims came from an ancestor at the battle.
- Tom and Andy disagree on the events of the battle as emotions escalate.
- Opie gets to go to the Library and finds an old newspaper that tells the truth about the battle as the writer had interviewed eyewitnesses who were there when it happened. Only it didn’t happen. There was no battle- it was all made up! There is a great divide between what people have held onto as truth and what actually happened (or didn’t, as the case may be)
- Opie is prepared to write everything in his essay and submit it, but Andy tries to discourage him from going forward with it, since Andy knows the effect that it will have on the townspeople, who are already a volatile group about this subject.
- Opie is undaunted and submits the truthful account in his essay.
- Andy tries to soften the blow with the townspeople by talking about how things can be exaggerated over time, but they don’t listen to him,
- Andy even tries to influence Helen to choose another essay than Opie’s to win the contest, but she will not hear of it.
- The truth finally comes out when Opie’s essay wins, and at first the people are dismayed by the truth about the “Battle”.
- Dismay turns to joy when the townspeople hear the governor praise Opie’s essay on the radio, particularly his attention to the details of the truth.
- The people, who previously were so proud to be known as “fighters”, and now happy to be know as people who are “peaceful”.
- MORAL of the story: Their traditions of what happened divided them, but when they knew the truth, it united them.
I know how easy it is for people to forget the truth and cling to tradition because I have seen it firsthand many times in my life. It just seems to be human nature to do that. One place that we should be particularly careful that we don’t allow that to happen is in our churches.
You see, Christians know that the truth of God revealed for mankind is the Scriptures and they want to be people of truth, so they develop an interpretation of the Scriptures (which may be right or wrong), and they want to protect the Scriptures, so in their zeal they will begin to add little teachings that they think will keep them from being unfaithful to the word or sinning against God. Over time many protective boundaries may be put up to keep someone from even getting close to the line of sinning. What happens over time is that these additions to Scripture, these man-made boundaries, begin to replace in people’s minds what the Scripture actually says. And slowly they are moved further away from the truth of God’s word, by things that are passed on that they believe are right, but are really opposed to the truth. It’s sad to say, but although their intentions were probably good, some Christians today have taken in bad teaching and perpetuated it to others, either through the pulpits or in our homes. Even I have received incorrect theology in churches and spread it along myself. Realizing that I did this has been a turning point for me in my personal walk with the Lord and in my ministry as I pastor others.
Elevating our traditions above the Scripture is no new phenomenon- Jesus confronted the Pharisees about their traditions being contrary to the Scriptures in Matthew 15:1-9.
Matthew 15:1-10 (NKJV)
Matthew
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, “Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Amazingly in this passage, the Pharisees had taken a tradition that was not commanded in the Scriptures and imposed it as the standard of righteousness, and when Jesus did not enforce their tradition with his disciples, they found fault with him. But Jesus finds fault with them for disregarding the Scriptures, and causing their tradition to negate the commands of God.
Jesus uses a very strong word to describe these people- “Hypocrites”. I hope and pray that Jesus wouldn’t use that word in our churches today if He came bodily for a visit! Our hope and prayer should be that everything we believe and do in our churches is based on the solid ground of Scripture- in context and weighed out in a balanced manner. Opinion and tradition should be kept to a minimum, and should be identified as such when they are used, but never should they be considered on the same level as Scripture!
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Like Opie, we are going to have to be willing to study, to seek, to find knowledge- considering history, context, culture, and Scripture together to get the whole picture. We are going to have to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, which is His job. We are going to have to get hungry for God’s truth and stick to it, removing anything that is not truth along the way. And we can expect challenges when standing for the truth, from within the Church and outside of it. It’s so important for Christians to wonder and ask “why” we believe something, and to understand it!
Like Andy, for some the truth is a fearful thing- how will people react? Upsetting the status quo is always a delicate thing. But the reality is that finding the truth is a freeing thing, not a fearful thing. Jesus said “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. (John 8:32) We should desire this freedom completely! But especially in churches, Christians do not want to discover that they have believed something improper or have been misguided from the pulpit, so for many, they believe that it is better not to rock the boat than to really gain knowledge on a matter. So they perpetuate what they believe to others.
Thank God that He stirs up His Holy Spirit in some believers to point out to the churches that they have moved away from the solid foundation of Scripture and have put more emphasis on traditions of men than the commands of God.
As you’re reading this, maybe you have experienced some of this in your journey, all the excess baggage of man-made traditions that get so heavy to carry that many suffocate under the load. Maybe you are in a church where you have real questions and concerns about some of the doctrine that is taught, or things that you see happening there. Maybe you left a church over issues like this and have found another one, or are looking for another one, or maybe you have given up on churches altogether. I hope that you are able to find a group of believers with a pastor who are willing to ask “why” and will search the Scriptures to find the answers that God has given and live by them!
When I began to ask “why do we believe this” it opened a great door of opportunity to understand God’s word and a desire to study and learn it. I can honestly say that I am freer now than I have ever been before after looking at the whole counsel of God’s word instead of just selected portions that can easily be taken out of context. I hope that through this blog I can encourage those that are seeking truth by letting them know about some of the things I have encountered myself. I hope that what I do here will bless you along the way.
Maybe you’re just thinking- “you got all this from an Andy Griffith Show episode?”
Yes, I did. I guess that’s why I am the “Pastor In Plaid”. I am cut from a different cloth!
Until next time, be blessed!
Bro. Beall
“Pastor In Plaid”