As the Bereans

One of the things that impressed me most about God's Church when I first started attending at age 18 was the solid emphasis on learning, studying and applying God's Word in our personal lives.

I well remember hearing about "being like the Bereans" and studying to prove whether something someone was espousing was true according to the Bible.

"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).

I wanted to become "a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing [understanding and comprehending] the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

The recent 2020 congregational survey certainly indicated that many of you have had the very same emphasis in God's Church for many years.

In response to the following statement, "I understand the fundamental truths of the Bible," 99% of respondents "Agreed" or "Strongly Agreed." As you may have already concluded, this was the highest percentage of agreement on the survey and could not have been much higher!

I am a bit surprised that the response was that high, but I suppose it is because the vast percentage of those who responded to the survey have been longtime members. We do put a great deal of emphasis on knowing and understanding our fundamental beliefs.

I was even a bit more surprised that 94% of respondents "Agreed" or "Strongly Agreed" with the statement, "I can explain the fundamental truths of the Bible." I think it is wonderful that we have confidence that we are able to explain these fundamental beliefs, as the scripture says: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed" (1 Peter 3:15-16).

Of course, how well one is able to explain our fundamental beliefs is important.

Sadly, one of the conclusions drawn from the survey is that most are confident in their ability to explain their beliefs, but few take the opportunity to do so.

It seems that many of us are reticent to engage in explaining our beliefs to others. It is not difficult to understand why that may be the case. I'm confident that many of us have attempted to do so, but we quickly realized that the person engaging us was not really interested in hearing why we believe what we believe. Instead, we found that they wanted to show us where we were wrong and not genuinely interested in considering the truth of the Bible. They already believed they knew the truth of the Bible. Moreover, before long the nice, casual conversation had become a heated, argumentative debate.

Because of one or two experiences like the one above, we may have concluded that it is best not to engage in a biblical conversation with anyone who isn't already in God's Church. But where is the balance? Granted, many people are more interested in debating their own beliefs and are not really open-minded to the real truth of the Bible.

One of the comments on the survey from one of our members indicated that they had a similar experience.

"We recently went through a series of Bible studies on the fundamental beliefs, which was very helpful. I do sometimes have trouble explaining to people outside the church what the Bible really teaches. This is especially true when the person I'm talking to is so dedicated to her own beliefs that she won't believe me no matter how much scripture I can cite."

Undoubtedly, many people fall into this category. Nevertheless, there are people out there genuinely interested in learning more about what the Bible says. And it is a very big world with billions of people!

I have found that it really doesn't take me very long to determine whether someone is truly interested in learning what I may be able to teach them. If someone is genuinely interested in hearing what I have to share with them, I am very willing to engage as long as they show signs of being interested in hearing more. I try to be careful not to overwhelm someone with more than they are able to process at the moment.

I believe it is important to consider whether God may be working with, or even calling, the person you are having a conversation with—and the only way to really know that is to be willing to engage to some extent.

Also, I don't assume that I won't learn something from someone else, because our attitude and approach has a great deal to do with whether or not someone may actually listen to what we have to share. And the reality is that we don't "know it all" and God can use anyone to help us understand the Bible more completely.

I believe it is important to pray regularly that God will bring us into contact with those whom He is calling and may be receptive to learning God's truth. We should all be vessels in God's hands as He sees fit; and it is scriptural to be able to give an answer if someone is asking about God and His truth.

Here are some comments from the recent survey regarding our fundamental beliefs, being able to give an answer, and the importance of God's Word.

"I feel encouraged that the Truth of God is being taught to us and shown how to apply it in our daily lives without disparaging others' beliefs. Some groups are so bent on making comments that disparage other groups of attendees but UCG doesn't do that. We stick to what we need to do to please God in our Christian walk and that is most important. UCG teaches to honor God and others at all times in the way we read in the Bible and that makes me know how to conduct my life. Nothing else matters. If my relationship with God isn't right—what is the point of this existence?"

"For the past several years (this is the 4th), our pastor has created a workbook for us to help with our studies and we have monthly quizzes which are corrected and returned. He includes a question where we answer a doctrinal question asked by a fictitious 'Bob.' A group of us ladies get together and go over our tests (those ladies know their stuff and come prepared) and then we go out for lunch. Great spiritual conversation and encouragement. We covered the Fundamentals of Beliefs booklet in 2018, so, yes we can explain. :-)"

"I feel that I need to do more work on always being ready to give an answer. The book on Fundamental Beliefs is excellent for that. I like the sermonettes that have been given on difficult scriptures and periodic sermons on some aspect of doctrine. (We all need refreshers from time to time.)"

"Being relatively new to UCG, I always feel that I have room to grow in my knowledge and ability to explain biblical truths to others."

"I have been a Sabbath Keeper for over 20 years! UCG teaches straight from the Bible. I also have been requesting booklets from UCG way before I became a member. Thank you for the truth."

"I am, as most of us are, still growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Therefore, I still have much to learn and that would allow me to have better answers in explaining the fundamental beliefs of God's Church."

"With our current Bible study series on the fundamental beliefs, I am getting better at explaining them all."

"I feel like I need more practice explaining the fundamental truths of the Bible, as well as a more thorough understanding of them."

"I feel like I can explain the fundamental truths of the Bible. I listen to sermons on the UCG website on my hour commute to work. I am learning so many new things you can't get from just reading through the Bible. It makes me realize how much there is to learn. I have some self-doubt about how much I can or should be explaining to others when I have so much more to learn. I know we are all a work in progress. It is interesting to see people in your life (coworkers perhaps) who put you to shame sometimes—conducting themselves better than me, when I know the truth."

"I prayed for the true church and it was provided to me by a loving God."

We may all be very grateful that a loving God has shown us His truth and way of life! Let us all be as the Bereans and then share God's truth with those He is calling at this time!

Wishing you all a very inspiring and peaceful Sabbath!