There are many principles applicable to christianity that are also applicable to your dealings in the secular world. One of them is stated above. Another is a favorite of mine that I shorten to call Acts 17:11.
These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so. (Act 17:11)
This passage is speaking of the Bereans who were told the gospel but didn’t just take what they heard as truth until they could verify it though the scriptures. They didn’t take a single source and run with it. They checked the facts. I suggest you all be like the Bereans particularly with the Bible, but also in your general lives. We live in an age with the Internet. While it is a great resource, I am sure a great number of you already know how many lies spread using the same tool.
Applying the Berean principle will help you in your daily walk with God. Many times in the Bible we are told to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). There will be many teachers who are right, some who just think they are right and some who are outright wrong and actually trying to mislead you. This is why you should put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20)*. Having said that, certainly apply the Berean principle to what you read here. Don’t believe what I say just because I say it.
Now, on the other side of that, we have to watch out that we do not become filled with our own hubris and fall victim to what I used as the title of this article. As a christian, when you share your faith, you will most certainly be attacked. Its happened to me and will happen again. Still, consider what they tell you and look to see if they might be right and you have not understood some aspect of the Bible. In some cases, it is simple a conjecture usually on some eschatalogical viewpoint. Sometimes it is just outright mean spirited and sometimes, perhaps more often than we would like to think, the person may be right. You won’t know, of course, if you don’t exercise Acts 17:11 and Ephesians 6:10-20.
Discussions, when both parties exercise these principles, are some of the most enlightening and fruitful discussions you can have and both parties come away with a renewed and deeper understanding of God’s word. After all:
First of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:20-21)
Doing these things will also help you to test yourself. Which we are told to do. I’ll leave you with what Paul wrote to the Corinthians and which applies to us as well.
Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don’t you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test? (2Co 13:5)
*Note: I include the section on prayer from Ephesians 6 in this citation precicely because it is part of the armament of God. Prayer is your best tool. It is often overlooked when discussing the metaphor of the armament of God.