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. Acts 17:10-11
One of the most difficult challenges in my conversion to Christ was accepting that some of the things my closest friends and family members believed and taught were not true to the Bible. They did not intentionally mislead me, but despite their sincerity, they were simply mistaken about many biblical teachings. At the end of the day, only the truth can set us free (John 8:32). I had to choose between loyalty to the word of God or to family beliefs. In the end, I chose to follow God’s word regardless of family tradition.
Though I did not become suspicious of everything my family and friends told me, I did learn the value of approaching Bible study as the noble Bereans mentioned above. The significance of this cannot be overstated. These people were hearing the word of God from the mouth of a holy apostle (Ephesians 3:1-5) who could perform miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 2:3-4; cf. Acts 19:11-12), yet they searched the Scriptures to see if he was being truthful. It is interesting to note they were not chided for a lack of trust, but instead they were commended for their dedication to verifying God’s will.
Sadly, very few religious thinkers commend such attitudes toward Scripture today. Indeed, most of them condemn the kind of Bible student who refuses to take the word of a “pastor”, theologian, or influential family member representing this church or that one. Nonetheless, the record still stands, and we ought to follow the example of the noble Bereans regardless of who is claiming to speak the word of God. This hostile attitude toward challenging people’s beliefs should come as no surprise as Paul clearly taught “…all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
We know the word of God has been verified by the supernatural events used to corroborate it (Hebrews 2:3-4; Mark 16:20). Thus, the only one who deserves our unswerving trust is the God of heaven. This is truly a difficult mindset to foster as family ties and friendships have a strong influence in our lives. One of the most difficult things I had to do upon the realization that my family was missing the mark was to openly embrace the truth when it conflicted with their beliefs and teachings. I learned firsthand the conflict within the family when one embraces biblical teachings regardless of family traditions. As the Lord said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
At one point, I was willing to overlook the plain teaching of the Bible concerning the salvation of my soul because I had such a blind devotion to my family. The folly of this thinking is evident from Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 10:37-38 when He said “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” At the end of the day, we must trust but verify what any person is trying to teach us concerning the word of God, regardless our relationship to them. We also must encourage anyone to whom we speak the plain truths of the Bible to follow the pattern of the Bereans and verify what we teach from the Scriptures. Anything less is unbiblical and unacceptable.