# What should be the posture and disposition of the people of God under the ministry of the Word?



## DTK (Mar 29, 2005)

What should be the posture and disposition of the people of God under the ministry of the Word? And what contribution, if any, does the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 offer toward the answer of this question?

Thanks ahead for your comments,
DTK


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## The Lamb (Mar 29, 2005)

> _Originally posted by DTK_
> What should be the posture and disposition of the people of God under the ministry of the Word? And what contribution, if any, does the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 offer toward the answer of this question?
> 
> Thanks ahead for your comments,
> DTK




It depends on who is delivering it for me. I like life from the pulpit. 

We should all be good bereans, except that can even be taken as an extreme. IF we listen with the perverbial plea comb in hand, just trying to determine what may be wrong, we may miss the whole point.


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## blhowes (Mar 29, 2005)

Along with the Berean attitude, I think its also good to have the attitude of Ecclesiastes 5:1,2

Ecc 5:1,2 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

Admittedly, and it may be wrong, but the first attitude seems to come naturally, the second seems to come more easily with experience, as you've learned to trust that the preacher accurately teaches what the scriptures teach.

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by blhowes]


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## wsw201 (Mar 30, 2005)

I think Bob has touched on an important issue. Throughout Scripture it appears that when either a prophet or Apostle spoke it was up to the Church to "test the spirits". So basically we should follow the Reagan doctrine; Trust but verify!

Unfortunately the answer to the question is not that simple in practice, ie; its easier said than done. How far do we let our own individual interpretations of Scripture lead us? Do we become a church of one? How much influence should teachers and pastors have over our view of Scripture? If a preacher says something we do not agree with, should we shake the dust off our feet and move on? 

David, this is a good question, unfortunately I don't have a real good answer.


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