One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Acts 17:10-11 (KJV) which says, “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

When I read this passage, its stirs my heart. There would have been no first Christians if there had not been men and women who were open-minded to new ideas – radical new ideas that challenged their tradition to the roots, and there would have been no stability to this radical revolution if these same open minds had not been anchored fast in scripture. I am afraid that succeeding centuries did not reveal a people of such a spirit. Bereans do not crop up often enough in the history of Christianity – and the result has been pain, suffering, and loss of the freedom in Christ.

The result is always tyranny as human ideas replace scripture, binding men were they should not be bound and violating the individual responsibility of all to search out the truth. Paul was checked up on by the Bereans – so then should our preachers, our elders, and our teachers be checked – only in the light of scripture to see whether their teachings are in conformity with the word of God. Then we shall be mature people who are grounded in the word and who think for ourselves. Only then can we break with the traditionalism that is so opposed to the spirit of the Bereans.