CHECKING EVERY SEAM

Today I had to return an item that I had picked up from Target yesterday.  I have no issue with returning things if something is not right.  That goes from clothing items that are not the right size, from damaged items, all the way to restaurant food that does not meet my expectations.  So it is not the fact that I hate returning items in general.  However, today I hated returning this item because it was my fault that I had to return it.


Heidi is really good at checking things over before we buy them.  When we buy clothing, she spends a good amount of time checking every seam to make sure there are no loose threads.  Most of the time when I buy goods, I give them a quick look over to make sure there is nothing obvious.  This time...I did not look.


Heidi had found coupon caddies at Target for 50 cents.  And the way we go through coupon caddies, this was a great deal.  She bought a couple of them and then asked if I could pick up a few more after work yesterday.  Not a problem...with picking them up.  What was the problem was how I picked them up.  I found the bin where they were, reached in, grabbed a bunch of them, and marched off to the checkout lanes.  I never once looked at them, checked them out, or investigated as to whether they were up to par.  Today, I returned one of them because the closing strap latch was not there...it was broken.


And that got me thinking...how often do we pick a church without investigating its beliefs and doctrine?  How often do we accept a pastor's word on what a Scripture means without looking into other Scriptures to verify it?  How often to we just reach in and grab a bunch of theology without checking it out to make sure some of it is not junk?


Now...what I do NOT want you to hear is that you can dishonor or disrespect your pastor.  They are in a place of honor and authority--Romans 13:1.  But I am one of them and I realize that I am not perfect; I am human.  I have told many of my church members, "Don't take my word on it.  Go and search the Scriptures yourself."


What I am saying, is that we should not blindly run in our Christian lives.  We need to ask questions; we need to study the Bible ourselves.  We need to check every seam to make sure it's not going to unravel.