A classic scenario we’ve often seen is someone lying on a couch in a psychiatrist’s office saying, “Doctor, I hear voices.” These days, we’re all hearing voices: TV and radio talk shows; news commentary sometimes disguised as objective reporting; podcasts; social media; Internet diatribes.
So many voices, one stating one thing, another saying something totally different. Kind of reminds me of the scene in the book of Acts when a mob in the city of Ephesus tried to disrupt the apostle Paul’s preaching: “The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there” (Acts 19:32).
Living in our world of so many disparate voices can be just as confusing. Many of those most vocal are desperate to persuade us about what to think and how to interpret events all around us – in our communities, the nation, even the world. But the views expressed are so diverse, often diametrically opposed to each other. How are we to discern what’s right – or who’s right?
There are no simple answers, unfortunately. Even the spiritual realm can seem just as confounding. As was the case in ancient Ephesus, where “some were shouting one thing; some another,” we’re offered a smorgasbord of ideas and ideologies from which we can pick and choose, if we so desire.
Just a cursory comparison of the world’s religions reveals differences that can’t be reconciled. But even within Christianity we’re confronted with teachings that can leave us struggling to discern whose messages represent the truth. From what I’ve observed, some “teachers” apparently are drawing their conclusions from the books of Babylonians and 2 Opinions (which, spoiler alert, are not in the Bible). The question again arises, who are we to believe?
Another passage in the book of Acts offers guidance in how to distinguish between what’s true and what’s not. The apostle Paul, Silas, and those following them were on a mission trip, stopping in Thessalonica and then proceeding to Berea: “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead” (Acts 17:2-3).
What Paul was preaching was the Gospel – literally, “good news” – which was eagerly received by some, but strongly opposed by others because what he was teaching was contrary to their well-established religious beliefs and practices. While some who heard Paul were convinced that what he taught was the truth, others formed a mob and started rioting to oppose him.
Then there were those who, similar to many of us today, simply wanted to carefully consider what he had to say and respond according to what they discovered. Among those were Jews in Berea. We’re told, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).
Rather than reacting negatively because the apostle’s teachings ran contrary to what they had always been taught or simply accepting his words ‘as gospel’ without any reservations, the Bereans chose the middle ground: They dug into the Scriptures – which at that time consisted only of the Old Testament – and compared what Paul was teaching with scriptural revelation.
We’d be wise to follow the example of the Bereans when we hear teachings from various apparently authoritative voices on matters such as theology, doctrine, morality, and their views about God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
We’re warned that “the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). Even though these words were written many centuries ago, they ring true to this day. Sadly, many people ‘want the God they want,’ rather than truly seeking the God who is.
Hopefully you’re not among them. If your desire is to know the Lord and grow deeper in your walk and relationship with Him, “searching the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” is a healthy habit. We need to know which of the many voices out there are worth listening to.
Even if we belong to a body of believers where the Bible is revered and faithfully taught, it doesn’t hurt to check the Scriptures ourselves to confirm whether what Pastor So-and-So said is, in fact, so.
If indeed, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” as 2 Timothy 3:16 declares, as diligent truth-seekers we can trust the Lord to confirm or correct what we hear.