Willingness of Mind
Unless there is a willingness of mind to know or to learn there will be no progress. This applies at all levels of knowledge so that a non-believer will only learn the gospel if he has a mind willing to find the truth, and a brother or sister will only develop in wisdom and understanding if there is the same willingness to progress. It is the lack of willingness of mind rather than a lack of natural ability which is the main reason for the low and falling standard of scriptural understanding amongst us. The proverb asks the vital question: How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? (Proverbs 1:22).
Jeremiah showed the willing approach when the law was discovered in the reign of Josiah: Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart (Jeremiah 15:6). Similarly Psalm 119 is full of expressions of a willing heart to learn Gods way: O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day (verse 97) and, How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (verse 103).
In these passages the willingness comes from a true appreciation of the inestimable privilege of having access to the word of God: For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them
? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law
? The Lord Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof and goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field (Matthew 13:44). The root of the parable is in Proverbs 2:1-5: My son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. The words incline, apply, criest, liftest, seekest and searchest, all emphasize an intensity of effort resulting from a deep desire to find wisdom. Without the true estimation of the treasure there will not be sufficient willingness and effort, and consequently no treasure found. And lest any should fear that focusing on personal effort and application is tending towards selfconfidence, we should always remember that even when the treasure is found, it is because the Lord has provided it for us, as Proverbs goes on immediately to say: For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (verses 67).
With regard to willingness of mind, there are shining examples in the scriptures that Christadelphians have to follow. The Bereans displayed three crucial aspects of the right approach to Gods word. Directly related to 1 Thessalonians 2 is the estimation which they had for the word of the Old Testament scriptures. It was their authority in matters of truth: they searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
The new word preached by Paul had to be consistent with their Old Testament. The Greek word for searched (according to the Greek Dictionary by James Strong) is one which means to scrutinize, investigate, interrogate, determine, ask, question, discern, examine or judge. These imply repeated and critical examination. And the Bereans carried this out daily.
The second lesson to be derived from the Bereans is their motivation for Bible studyto find out whether these things were so . A desire to learn the ways of God is the only sound motive for Bible study. It requires that at all times we have the humility to accept the correction of deep-rooted and cherished ideas. It would be entirely wrong to study the scriptures just to enable us to speak and teach others. The correct order was shown by Ezra: For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgements (7:10). Every teacher knows how much more difficult it is first to do the things we teach others.
Ezra, preparing his heart to seek the law, brings us to the third lesson to be learnt from the Bereans: They were more noble in that they received the word with readiness of mind . The word noble means literally high born and is only used on three occasions in the scriptures. In Luke 19:12 and 1 Corinthians 1:26 it is clearly referring to family pedigree, and the idea that in Acts 17 it means noble in mind can only be derived indirectly. The sense it carries can be found from the same chapter. The Bereans are being contrasted with the Thessalonians- Jews who moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd (wicked) fellows of the baser sort
and set all the city in an uproar (verse 5). The baser sort were literally the frequenters of the market (Greek: agoraios) - the first century layabouts, probably low born, and certainly not in the same social class as the honourable Berean ladies (verse 12). But Acts is not preaching eugenics. The point is that the market mob were not at all interested in judging the apostles for themselves. They did not care what they said. The contrasting response of the more civilised Bereans was to listen first to what Paul had to say - an approach no doubt inculcated by class culture. This is not to say that the Greek culture was to be applauded, but the readiness to listen was. After all, it was a related inquisitiveness which allowed Paul to preach on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18-20). But the Jewish Bereans, whilst showing the same willingness to listen, did not fall into the trap of treating the gospel as entertainment, as did the Greeks of verse 21, most of whom were not interested in pursuing the evidence (verse 32).
A true estimation of the scriptures will affect all aspects of our Bible study and the use we make of scripture. Since the author is God, no word of it is without purpose. Repetition of words and phrases in different parts of the scriptures, ie quotations, must have a purpose. We have to handle the word with respect so that we do not quote verses out of context. We will want to know, above all, what the voice of God says, and so we will use concordances, lexicons, etc to check the accuracy of translations rather than picking translations for their immediate subjective appeal. We should search the scriptures for guidance on personal and ecclesial decisions, even when the conclusions which we reach are painful to implement. Bible study will be a joy, not a chore, and therefore we will spend as much time as possible in listening to the voice of God. We will not use scripture in order to catch one another out or to gain preeminence, or to attract the praise of our brethren and sisters, for we are not of those who handle the word of God deceitfully. And in all things we are encouraged by the voice of the living God for, Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool
to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and or a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word (Isaiah 66:1-2).
Bro Francis Odiko (Ateiku-Wassa, Ghana)
