ANDY, BARNEY AND JESUS?

You won't find them listed among the twelve. They weren't there on the day of
Pentecost trying to convert the lost. There is no reference to them in any of
Paul's epistles, and he seemed to make reference to just about anyone who was
a helper to him. It is for sure that their names will not be written in the
Lamb's Book of Life.

Who are they? Well, it seems that Andy Taylor and Barney Fife, fictional
characters from the old "The Andy Griffith Show" from television, have now
become evangelists. Well, sort of. An article in the June 17, 1999 Truth
Magazine by Jarrod Jacobs tells us all about it. It seems two members of the
Twickenham Church of Christ in Huntsville, Alabama named Joey Fann and Brad
Grasham, were so taken with "The Andy Griffith Show" that they developed and
then have been teaching a Sunday morning class on it. Here is a quote taken
from their web site: "Basically, it (their class) offers a casual, non-threatening atmosphere for
people to get together, have fun, and think about how we handle certain
situations in life." [I visited their web site at www.barneyfife.com to read
this quote, and several others from Newspaper articles done on them - JW]

Pardon me for asking a silly question, but isn't Bible Study supposed to be
about studying the Bible: God's Word? Have we so truly lost the way to God
that we are now asking if it is better to teach people about the moral
lessons that are taught by fictional television characters? Yes, I enjoy "The
Andy Griffith Show" and believe it was one of the better television series to
ever be written. But why would anyone want to spend their precious time on a
Sunday morning watching re-runs of Barney, Gomer and Goober when they could
be sitting at the feet of the Master, Jesus Christ.

Brethren, we better be careful. If we want to lead people to Jesus Christ
(and we should want to), then we better do it His Way, with His Word to bring
about His Results. Leading folks back to Mayberry is not the same as leading
them to Heaven! [JW]

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall
be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."
(Ezekiel 18:20)