Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Modern Bible believing Christians face an interesting challenge; do we insulate ourselves from “bad teaching” by avoiding those who think differently than we do, or do we challenge every single one to prove out what is right and wrong?

We already know which one is easier. It is far easier to say “I’ve basically got it figured out” and reject all ideas that come our way. It’s lazy but it’s easily justified. After all, smarter people figured all this out years ago and we’ve all been doing minor variations on the same basic Christian teaching ever since. It’s best to just pick one and go with it. Right?

If we truly are Bible-believers, we need a better approach to our belief in the Bible. Not to swing hard the other direction and be blown about by the winds of false teaching but as flexible and active students of the Word, take every opportunity to reflect on our conviction and search out the truth.


Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, 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

We love to think of ourselves as Bereans, testing teachings against the truth but remember who the Bereans were: Jewish people! They converted! If we want to follow their example, we also have to be willing to change our minds.

Ethan Kirl