A Day at The Hermitage

 

A few years ago, I was in Nashville, Tennessee for a weekend speaking engagement at a wonderful church in the Nashville area. Being an avid lover of American history, I decided to tour The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson.

 The property is absolutely gorgeous. The state of Tennessee has done a fabulous job maintaining it as a museum. The grounds are immaculate. The workers are dressed in colonial attire. There was even a vintage Baseball game taking place on the grounds.

My favorite part of the tour was walking through the plantation home. Built in the early 1800’s, it is 8,000 square feet of amazing, southern architecture. The walls have the original wallpaper. The wood floors are the original planks. Even the furniture sits in the same locations. It was a marvel to behold.

Everything was going beautifully until I began the guided tour of the house. In our group was a woman, most likely in her 80’s, who questioned everything the tour guide said about the house. She would say things like,

 

“Are those the original drapes?”

 

 “Is this the original floor?”

 

“How tall was Andrew Jackson?”

 

 “Is this a guest room or the master?”

 

On, and on, and on. Everyone else was silent. She could not stop talking.

 

Finally, she went so far to ask the tour guide, “Are you sure your information is correct?”

 

I was so proud of the tour guide. He calmly looked at her but directly said, “Yes Ma’am—I am the tour GUIDE. That’s what they hired me to do.”

I thought to myself, “Lady, you didn’t live here. You didn’t build this home. Relax, and most of all, HUSH.”

 Surprisingly, even in her irritable aura, this woman provided a powerful reminder for the church. We need to evaluate what we hear from preachers and teachers about God’s word with spiritual scrutiny. Now, don’t get the wrong idea. We can’t, or shouldn’t, read God’s word like a tax code, evaluating every word and syllable, looking for loopholes or “gotchas”. But when we hear things that people say about Scripture, it is healthy for us to think and even ask, “Are you sure that’s right?” That is what the Noble Bereans did in Acts 17. The Scripture says they were “noble” because they examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was, indeed, true (Acts 17:11). We often fail to examine the Scriptures weekly or even monthly, to see if what we hear from the media, books, internet, or even preachers, is factual.

The church finds itself in a dangerous state when it does not evaluate what it hears, says, or does, by the authoritative word of God. On the other hand, the church finds itself in a harmonious state when it declares and depends on, “Thus Sayeth the Lord.”

Does your congregation enthusiastically question, or just robotically absorb what it hears? Do not allow someone else’s college degree or ministry experience to be your license for laziness. Scripture is for everyone—not just the few. When we dive deep to search and find for ourselves, we are always blessed. Keep your “tour guide” on their toes!