To Be Berean

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11 (NIV)

To See If – Are you Berean?  Are you willing to examine the Scriptures every day to see if what you are being taught is true?  Ah, there are some implicit assumptions here that must be acknowledged.  First, the “Scriptures” are the words of God found in the Tanakh – the Older Testament.  Believe me when I tell you that the Bereans were not reading commentaries on Romans or the gospel of John.  They determined the truth of Paul’s claims based entirely on the material from Genesis to Malachi.  Do you do that?

Second, the standard for their authority was the Tanakh.  They searched the Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures, to determine if Paul’s message aligned with the revealed word of God.  They didn’t run to the pastor for his view or look up the creed or the doctrine of the church or grab Geisler’s systematic theology.  They went to the text – the Jewish, Hebrew authoritative text for their lives – to see if what Paul was teaching found its source in their holy code.  How about you?  When you hear a sermon or read a new religious book or listen to the news or read a newspaper, are you running to the Tanakh to see if what you are hearing is in line with God’s truth?  Do you live by His book?  Does what you hear match His words?  If Paul’s message to the Bereans didn’t square with Scripture, then it was garbage, deception and a lie.  Are you careful enough to check what you believe with the instructions from God?

Third, the Bereans received Paul’s message with great eagerness.  They did not take a skeptical stance.  They were committed to learning, to examining, to discussing, to growing in their understanding of God’s word.  If Paul brought something new, great!  Let’s listen!  Let’s hear him.  Then we will go to work checking it out.  What about you?  Are you ready, anticipating challenge, anxious to know, eager to explore?  Does the careful examination of God’s word thrill you?

And finally, the Bereans rushed to the Scriptures every day in order to see if (in Greek, ei echoi tauta outos – literally “if have these so”) these things were true.  “If” (ei) is one of the most important words in the Bible.  “If” means that the truth of the claim is conditional.  You need to look at the evidence.  There are no “face-value” claims in this faith.  God demonstrates His trustworthiness with real evidence.  But you have to go look at it.  He isn’t doing to show up with a neon sign or a billboard in the sky or a slap across the face.  You have to do some work.  You have to examine, search, press, think and compare.  You have to become a Berean.

We might come to the faith because it is part of our culture or our upbringing, but that isn’t enough to make it deep and real.  Rush to examine.  That’s the key.  Go see if it’s true.  Today!

Topical Index:  see if, ei echoi tauta outos, Berean, Acts 17:11