"Don't leave home without it" (Part 2)

I recently had the privilege of joining a Christian tour group as we endeavoured, in 10 days, to follow some of the Apostle Paul’s footsteps in Greece and Turkey. This was a belated 50^th Jubilee Birthday trip for me. The tour proved to be both packed full of sights and availed impactful insights into the historical and biblical significance of places like Athens, Corinth, Patmos, Ephesus, Crete, Berea, Thessaloniki, Philippi. An amazing God-incidence was that we happened to be in Berea, Greece when I celebrated my 51^st Birthday. Because of my love for the Word and study of it, I couldn’t imagine being in a more meaningful place on that special day. 

Ancient Ruins at Thessaloniki

Jewish synagogue in Berea

In case your memory isn’t serving you so well, I’ll give you some background on the significance of Berea as found in Acts 17. Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica and after leading many Greeks to the truth of Jesus; some jealous Jews gathered a mob to accuse them of turning the world upside down. However, they couldn’t find Paul and Silas to bring them before the rulers of the city. The two men of God escaped that night and made their way to Berea. There they found in the synagogue Jews who were more open than those in Thessalonica. In fact, “…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” 

Plaques in Berea commemorating the Bereans

The Bereans were lovers of the truth and definitely didn’t leave home without it. We may think that back in those days it was easier to discover and know the truth, but not so. From our tour we learned that Greece was inundated with philosophies, gods and goddesses, and the worship thereof. In Athens, the common phrase one would use when approaching a friend or stranger was, “What’s news?” According to Acts 17:21, “For all Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” We could say truth was relative. That’s one of the reasons why Paul’s assignment to preach the truth that Jesus Christ was the only way to the Father was met with such opposition. It wasn’t until people met and acknowledged the Truth that they were set free.

From my observations, our 21^st Century post-modern thinking hasn’t proven to be much different to the philosophies of Paul’s day. In many ways, we’re still asking, “What’s news?” desperately wanting to latch onto the newest and latest craze. This pervasive way of thinking has even seeped into the body of Christ where experience supersedes reason, subjectivity supersedes objectivity, images supersedes words, and outward supersedes inward. When one values experience more than reason then truth becomes relative. In other words, up to the individual. And if it’s up to the individual’s experience to decide what is the truth then this negates the Bible being the source of absolute truth. It becomes up to the individual to define and interpret truth – it can be this one day, and that another day. 

For us not to have an immovable, undeniable source of truth is like throwing us to the lions – we will be devoured! We truly need to go back to the way of the Bereans measuring every new teaching, every new thought against the God-breathed Scripture, as Paul so aptly described it to Timothy. 

Statue of Paul in Berea

When Jesus was brought before Pilate He was asked if He was a king. Jesus replied that Pilate was accurate in his description and that He had indeed come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Jesus goes onto promise that everyone who is of the truth will hear His voice. Perhaps this is a good litmus test for us all. Do we hear Jesus’, the Word’s, voice in what we are listening to, or reading? If we aren’t, then it isn’t the truth. Someone’s voice will end up being stronger – our own, the world’s, the enemy’s, or God’s. In Paul’s description of the Word to Timothy, he was highlighting that God’s voice will only be stronger if we take time to allow His Word to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

In essence what Paul was saying to Timothy was, “Don’t leave home without it!