Keeping an ‘open’ mind

A teacher encouraged an open, teachable mind. Another one warned not to have a mind so open that all my brains would fall out! Both sounded like good advice, but can anyone do both? I didn’t think so.

There are two places in the Bible that refer to an open mind. Neither one uses those words, but that is what they are talking about. The first one refers to a group of Jews at Berea . . .

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.” (Acts 17:11–13)

The word ‘noble’ caught my eye so I looked it up in Greek. It originally meant high born but came to have a more general connotation of being open, tolerant, generous, having the qualities that go with “good breeding.” Since this term didn’t fit the Jews in Berea, it was used in its metaphorical sense to describe people who were willing to hear new ideas and evaluate them. Noble means to have an open, teachable mind.

Paul taught by quoting the Old Testament and showing how it applied to Jesus Christ. These Bereans took Paul’s teaching seriously enough to not only examine and evaluate it, but to do this every day.

Their eager enthusiasm was not gullibility. As one commentary says, “their examination parallels the best in human jurisprudence, unbiased investigation to get at the truth” resulting in a large number of Jews and Greeks, prominent women as well as men, probably both God-fearers and pagans, believing the message and becoming Christians.

As for the open-minded, brains-falling-out warning, I thought of all those who fall for telephone and email scams and for false teachers. Being teachable does not mean believing everything I hear. I need to check it out. Common sense might help, but not always. (For instance, does it make sense to believe in the resurrection of the dead?) Instead, like those in Berea, what I hear or am taught needs to be compared to what God says, carefully, thoroughly, and continually. That is, I need a standard, a plum line for measuring truth.

Of course, this leads to another issue — the reliability of Scripture, a huge topic for another day. Today, I need to check out things I heard this weekend, some from a confused Christian, some from a liberal church member, and some from a cult member. I could close my mind to all three (‘consider the source’) but that is not being noble. Besides, my belief system should stand the test of biblical scrutiny even when listening to the ideas of others. Who knows what God might teach me as I do.

Besides all that, God says shutting my mind is not very noble either. It could indicate a great deal of pride, as if I know it all and everyone else is not too smart. For anyone who thinks like this, He says . . .

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, from these words, You warn me that being noble is not about birth or IQ. It is about humility and knowing where my faith comes from — rooted in the Holy Spirit and willing to admit that without relying on You, my knowledge, study, and any other good qualities are anything but noble.