BE A BEREAN

By Cougan Collins

lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net

On his second missionary journey, Paul went to a city called Thessalonica (Acts 17:1). Many times Paul found himself in danger because the Jews disliked the message he was preaching, and this city was no different (Acts 17:5). The Jews formed a mob and raided the house they thought Paul was in, but he was not there. So, they drug the owner of the house, Jason and other brethren “to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6). They felt like the message of Christ was turning the world upside down, and they wanted to stop it, but their efforts failed.

“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men” (Acts 17:10-12).

Paul never knew how successful he would be in any city. Sometimes he reached a few and faced great opposition; other times, he had great success. The Bereans were like a fresh breath of air because they listened without letting their preconceived ideas get in the way. Also, they carefully searched the Scriptures to see if what he was saying was true. Once they did, many of them believed because they were humble enough to change their view because Paul’s teaching was Scriptural.

Oh how I wish more people were like the Bereans. Many today will not search the Scriptures at all (much less daily) to find out if the truth is being taught. Instead, they blindly follow what their preacher or others teach them. Even when they see that the Bible teaches something different from what they were taught, they choose to cling to what they have been taught. Many of the Jews in the first century had this same problem. They could not see past the Law of Moses or their traditions. No mater how strong the proof was that Jesus was the Son of God, they would deny it because they were unwilling to allow the Word of God to be their guide.

How about you? Would you be humble enough to change your ways if you saw that the Bible teaches something different from what your preacher or others taught you? Or would you be like those first century Jews and stubbornly ignore the truth?

I encourage you to test all things (1 Thess. 5:21), and stop assuming your preacher and others are right. Be a Berean, and search the Scriptures daily to see if you are being taught the truth. If you are, great! If you are not, then be willing to change by conforming yourself to God’s Word. If you have questions about any topic in the Bible contact me, and I will do my best to answer your questions, but I insist that you compare my answer to the Scriptures.