In Acts 17:11, Luke points out something different about these listeners in Berea. They were more noble-minded or open-minded than the Thessalonians. Don’t think of these people as squishy with no convictions, thus being open-minded to every new-fangled idea that appears on the internet. No, this means that the Bereans were willing to listen carefully to what was being said. Notice they welcomed the word eagerly; they embraced it with great willingness. And this wasn’t done in ignorance or just because it sounded nice. They did this while searching out the Scriptures to test Paul’s teaching. Oh,
Think what would take place if everyone would just do this—how many problems would be avoided; how many lives would be spared from the pangs of false teaching? We just have to admit that the Scriptures are often not treated as the final authority when discussing Christian things. Instead—This best-selling author wrote this or this popular teacher said this. Or that’s not what my grandpa taught the family. Or that can’t be true because my youth pastor growing up told me that passage meant this and he can’t be wrong because he was a real nice guy. All those things may be have some truth, but did you search the Scriptures in their context, carefully examining the intention of the passage?
Those hostile to the message in Acts have refused to do this—think about Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 as he gave that brief overview of the OT and then linked everything to Christ. Did they rage against him because he wasn’t teaching the Bible OR did they rage against him because they hated Christ? Instead of being noble-minded, the Bible teaches that those who are close-minded to the truth have a worthless and depraved mind (Eph. 4:17-19).