An Image Of Grace

Acts 17:10-12

The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. (Acts 17:11)

CHRISTIANS HAVE AN IMAGE PROBLEM, and much of it is deserved. In our efforts to uphold standards of morality and social values—an understandable goal fueled by admirable motives—we sometimes come across as critical, narrow-minded, and negative to those around us. Perhaps that is unavoidable; absolutes, however true, are not popular in our relativistic age. Even so, our attempts to apply Christian values to non-Christian lives are often misguided. The result, as many have noted, is that we’re known more for what we’re against than what we’re for.

Unfortunately, that attitude is often applied even within our own circles. Self-appointed watchdogs and discernment ministries blast anything that doesn’t look and smell like their narrowly defined gospel. They don’t consider the possibility that God might be trying to help them grow. Many appeal to the example of the Bereans in Acts, who searched the Scriptures to discern the truth of Paul and Silas’s message. The difference is that the Bereans searched the Scriptures to see if the teaching was true, not to see if it was false—a subtle but decidedly different approach. They were excited about the possibility of learning something new, and they wanted to verify it. They looked at Scripture with an open mind.

Many believers today need to take that same approach with other believers—to live with an open mind like the Bereans, or at least recognize that genuine Christians have different perspectives and understandings. But we also need to apply that attitude outward—not to embrace whatever the world teaches indiscriminately, but to realize we can learn a lot from those around us. Willing hearts and open minds are winsome and appealing in their own right; they also give us connections, understanding, and a voice when we need to make a stand. And they go a long way toward changing a bad image.

{Lord, you are the author of all truth, but you share it widely. Help me recognize it in unexpected places, commend and connect with its unlikely advocates, and voice it always with grace. Amen.