More fair-minded

 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

Things got so bad at Thessalonica that they had to sneak Paul and Silas out by night. As bad as Thessalonica was, Berea was quite a relief. The people there were more 'fair -minded' (or ‘more noble’ as the KJV translates it) than those in Thessalonica and responded in a much better manner.

Where Thessalonica rose up in turmoil the men of Berea receive the word of God with all readiness and they searched the scriptures daily to find out if what they heard was actually true.

I like this because these men were so fair that they did not just reject what Paul said out of hand because it was not familiar. They also did not just accept it because these preachers said it. They chose to examine the scriptures for themselves to see if what was said was true.

That’s the kind of Christians we need to be. We don’t need to be so set in our opinions that we ignore or reject teaching just because we don’t think it sounds right or doesn’t fit our preconceived notions. Often we confuse traditions with Biblical truth. We don’t like to have our boat rocked. It is much more comfortable to just carry on. But the noble thing to do is to check it out with scripture before we judge.

But that’s not the only angle to see this. We are also doing the right thing to search the scriptures to see if what we hear is true even when it is not what we are used to. Years ago I heard a preacher who was quite well known tell a student in chapel to ‘put that Bible away and just pay attention to me.’

That is not what God says. God says that it is noble and fair-minded to search the scriptures to see if what we are hearing is true. Don’t reject or accept just because it is said. Simply check it out for ourselves.

And what happened when these men did check it out? ‘Many of them believed.’

We never have to fear searching the word of God.