Barking up the Wrong Tree

Several years back, me and the Looney brothers loaded up one evening to go coon hunting. Now if you’ve ever spent any time around hounds, you know there’s two things a man loves: a good dog treed out and a coon looking down from a tree. That night the guys had a dog they were thinking about buying. I forget his name we will call him Taze for the story's sake. He was a good-looking black-and-tan hound good ole floppy ear that looked like velvet curtains hanging off the side of his head. Sharp dog. The kind that makes you nod your head before he ever makes a bark.

We hadn’t been in the woods long before we heard it. BOOM! That dog let out a bark that sounded like somebody fired a cannon off in that holler. A few seconds later he rolled into a full-blown tree bark that would rattle your teeth if you stood too close. I mean that joker was hammering that tree like a chubby kid at an all you eat corn dog stand. He wasn't letting up. So we walked in there thinking we were about to see a set of glowing eyes.

When we got to the tree, that dog was slobbering and chopping so loud it hurt your ears. Looked like a picture out of a hunting magazine. Only problem was… there wasn’t a coon in the tree. Now it wasn’t a real big tree either. We shined every limb, every fork, every knot hole. Nothing. Somebody said, “Maybe it crossed out.” So we snapped the lead on him, walked him away, and turned him loose again.

A little while later… BOOM! There he went again. Lit up the woods like a siren. Treed hard. We all looked at each other grinning. “Boys, this dog’s the real deal,” somebody said. We walked in there again expecting meat on the limb. Same thing. Same noise. Same excitement. Same empty tree.

Well, by about the fourth slick tree, the excuses started running thinner than gravy at a California restaurant. That dog treed all night long… and never had a single coon. In the hound world we call that slick treeing. It means the dog is trying to convince you there’s something up there when there really isn’t. It may even mean there is a coon close but not in the tree the dog is at.

And standing there that night in the dark, it hit me that old hound was about the best illustration of a false prophet you’ll ever see. He was loud. He was convincing. He was exciting. He looked right. He sounded right. But when you checked the tree, there wasn’t any truth there. It reminded me of the old Wendy’s commercial where the lady kept hollering, “Where’s the beef?”

You see, style points don’t mean much when the tree is empty. A big mouth and a good show might impress the crowd, but if the dog’s lying, he’s still a liar. And the same thing is true in the spiritual world. That’s why the Bible warns us about teachers who sound impressive but aren’t standing on truth. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8 (ESV), “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

And that’s a lesson that carries a man a long way beyond the woods. Because if we’re honest, there are plenty of folks in this world who can bark real loud. There are great speakers, sharp dressers, beautiful buildings, smooth talkers, and motivational voices that can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Some religions look warm and friendly, full of smiling faces and kind handshakes. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. But none of those things prove there’s meat in the tree.

What we have to do is pull out the scope of the Word of God and start shining the limbs. The question isn’t how impressive it sounds or how polished it looks. The question is whether there’s any meat there. Is what’s being preached lining up with the truth of Scripture, or is it just a slick tree that looks good in the dark? The Bereans understood this well. Acts 17:11 (ESV) says, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

In other words, they didn’t just listen to the bark. They checked the tree.

The Word of God tells a strange story in 1 Kings 13 about a prophet who had clear instructions from the Lord not to stop anywhere. But another man came along claiming to be a prophet and said God had told him something different. It sounded spiritual. It sounded convincing. But it contradicted what God had already said. The young prophet listened… and the Bible says a lion met him on the road and killed him.

Now here’s the part that will make you look up. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV), “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Satan is still looking to destroy with lies.

The good news for us is that lion can’t devour you if you stay under the right tree.

You see, there’s only one tree that really matters. The cross of Calvary. And the One who hung there said plainly in John 14:6 (ESV), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That’s the only tree where the truth lives. That’s the only tree where you’ll find real meat for your soul.

By the end of that night, the Looney's knew that pretty black-and-tan hound wasn’t what he claimed to be. He went right back to Tennessee where he came from, where i think he became a football mascot. While I was standing there under those empty trees, I remember thinking that’s exactly what we ought to do with the lies of the enemy.

Send them right back where they came from.

Because when you know the tree that leads to everlasting life… you don’t waste much time listening to dogs barking up the wrong one.