Thirdly, we must hold onto it firmly. God is aware that there will be many slick doctrines and false teachings to pull us away from the one true God. We cannot just know what we know - we must hold onto it firmly. The Apostle Paul warns Timothy to guard only two things closely - his life and his doctrine. Despite the attempts of people like Joel Osteen to turn doctrine into a dirty word, it remains the life blood of a believing Christian. It is what matures us beloved.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. - Ephesians 4: 14 (NLT)
I understand why people like to hear what preachers like Osteen and Prince have to say. It plays to our flesh and feeds our carnality. When we hold fast to that we are grasping the wind. God says to hold firmly to the true Gospel. It is the Berean Call to the Church at Sardis and the church today. The other set of key verses today are from Paul's second missionary journey. The people of Berea astounded Paul so much that Luke makes note of them in the Book of Acts. Their approach is three pronged and should be the outline for believers today who seek to hold firmly to correct doctrine. Firstly, they listened eagerly to the messages Paul was delivering. While that sounds simple enough we all know that this is not so true all the time for believers in church, especially in churches built upon the purpose driven model where most church members are serving in ministry during church service. The truth is that as our walk wears on we can become more sloppy than we once were about what we are being fed. We can stop bringing our notebook. Stop writing in the margins of our Bible. Part of this is also related to the watered down nature of most contemporary preaching. When sermons are reduced to twenty minutes and it is three topical sermon points and a cloud of dust - there is not much incentive for eagerly approaching the preaching of the Word. All I can say is if you find yourself in a church where there is no reason to eagerly approach the opening of the Bread of Life - it is time to find another church.
Secondly, the Bereans searched the Scriptures day after day. That is right beloved - our walk is not meant to be contained to Sundays. The Bereans took their walk with God seriously. Every day they would be in the Scriptures. We have turned modern Christianity into a consumer mentality. We cater to the seeker instead of catering to God. We try to sell the seeker on what God can do for them instead of what God has already done for them. We cannot expect the power of God in our lives on Wednesdays when we only crack the Bible open on Sundays. It doesn't work that way. The reason why we are so susceptible to false teachings is that we do not do what the Bible actually says.
Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus. They have left the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith. - 2Timothy 2: 15-18 (NLT)
We have become a church that prefers the worthless foolish talk because we do not know any better. It is interesting here that Paul specifically gives and example of two people who fell into false teaching because they didn't know the Word well enough for themselves! And their false beliefs were leading others astray as well! Work hard beloved! We ned to stop trying to fit Christ into our lives and start making our life to be about Christ.
Thirdly, the Bereans weighed what was preached to them up against the truth of Scripture! Do you get that? They did not reflexively believe everything they heard just because someone in authority was saying it! They wanted to make sure that what Paul and Silas were teaching was in fact the truth. In the modern church there is simply too much pastor worship. Too much blanket acceptance without verifying truth against the Word of God. Let us be clear. The majority of pastors and preachers are good men who have a genuine call of God on their lives but even they can be wrong. Putting your pastor high up on a pedestal only ensures he will break his legs when he falls off. Christians are known for burying their wounded because we set up unattainable expectations for the people in leadership. And realize that is the good half! The other pastors might really be snake oil salesmen or hucksters:
You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ's authority, knowing that God is watching us. - 2Corinthians 2: 17 (NLT)
