Be a Berean!

In Acts 17 Paul continues to travel from city to city sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pattern repeats itself in almost every place. Paul goes first to the Jews in the city and though some believe, most reject the message and then Paul goes to the Gentiles. Again, some believe but typically others, usually Jews, from a neighboring city where Paul has already been, ride into town (or more likely walk into town) and stir up trouble. Paul often finds himself in prison or run out of town and then the cycle repeats itself at the next city. In Acts 17 Paul lands in a place called Berea and we read this: 10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 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. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.  There is a reason that if you google, “berean bible church” or “berean Baptist church” you will find tens of thousands of entries but you won’t find any for the “Thessalonican Baptist church”. The people of Berea “searched the scriptures daily” to find out whether what Paul was saying was true. Over the history of the church the term “berean” has come to signify a group of people who place the Bible at the center of their Christian life.

The lesson for us is that we must do the same thing. We too can search the scriptures to find out if what we read and hear is true. Too many people, even those who claim to follow Jesus, do not even read the Bible, let alone “search” it. This then leads to being “tossed to and fro from every wind of teaching”.   So much of what passes for “teaching” in the Christian world can be easily refuted by simply comparing it to what the Bible says. I exhort you to “search the scriptures” each day. Read it. Study it. Ask questions. Get answers. Be a Berean!

Share

Leave a Reply