Several years ago, I read about a fascinating experiment. A group of scientists placed four monkeys in a small room. After bringing in a tall pole with a bunch of bananas at the top, the scientists retreated behind a one-way mirror to observe how the monkeys would react. Predictably, the monkeys competed against each other to reach the bananas—with the strongest and quickest ones usually succeeding, while the others were forced to wait. Score one for “survival of the fittest.”

Then the scientists changed the environment by rigging the pole with a pail of water. Every time a monkey climbed to the top and reached for the bananas, the animal got doused with water. Eventually the monkeys—all of whom were drenched by this point—stopped going after the bananas altogether. Hungry as they were, the monkeys had learned that these particular bananas were to be seen but not touched!

The scientists then removed the pail of water. No longer was there the threat of getting doused. But of course, the monkeys had now been conditioned to stay away, and thus, they left the bananas alone. Score one for “behavioral modification.”

So far, so good. However, here’s the intriguing part for me. The scientists then introduced a brand new monkey into the mix. Not surprisingly, the new monkey—unaware of what had taken place previously—saw the bananas and immediately started climbing the pole.

But the original monkeys wouldn’t allow it. They kept grabbing the newcomer by the tail and pulling him down. Perhaps they were simply trying to protect him from getting doused with water; but remember the water wasn’t there anymore. In effect, they were forcing the new monkey to adapt to their understanding of the situation—even though their understanding was no longer valid.

Rather than spelling out the implications of all of this for the church, I think I’ll just let the experiment speak for itself, and allow each of you to draw your own conclusions. However, this much seems certain—if we keep pulling down those who want to try something new simply because it does not fit our view of what should be done, then we are liable to end up looking at the bananas … and talking about the bananas … maybe even dreaming about the bananas … but never actually tasting them!