I. INTRODUCTION
A. We live in the information age. How should we process all of it?
1. In this age of electronic media, the volume and speed of information can be overwhelming.
2. We desperately need a way for interpreting this information and separating the truth from the lies, the useful from the useless, and the good from the bad.
B. Thankfully, God has given us the Bible as a timeless model for understanding the world.
1. With the Bible as our model, we can understand our origins, our history, and our future.
2. With this biblical worldview, we can also interpret truthfulness or falsehood, usefulness or uselessness, and goodness or wickedness of nearly any information that comes to us.
3. To make correct interpretations about any information, two things are necessary – an open mind and an open Bible.
II. AN OPEN MIND AND AN OPEN BIBLE
A. Christians need to be biased and prejudiced in one important way, which is in favor of the truth of God via the Bible.
1. Any Christian who is not sufficiently convinced that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired word of God needs to commit himself to establishing this conviction.
a. This conviction is well stated in 2Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
b. Without this conviction, a Christian’s faith is precarious, for the Bible is the basis for everything that Christians believe and practice.
2. The way this conviction can be established is by careful study of the Bible, its internal and external evidences, its authenticity, its historicity, it archaeology, etc.
3. Once this conviction is established, then a Christian has the Bible as the standard of truth whereby he may interpret all things.
B. With this one important bias prevailing, let us consider a Christian’s open mind.
1. A Christian’s open mind is a thinking mind, not an empty mind.
a. A Christian’s mind is to be open only in the sense of being accessible and not in the sense of being vacant.
b. Consider Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
c. Notice Colossians 3:2 – “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
2. A Christian’s open mind is a receptive mind, not a permissive mind.
a. It is good for us to be willing to receive new ideas, but we must listen with the intent of comparing them with the established truth of the Bible. If they compare favorably, then we may accept them. Otherwise, we must reject them.
b. Notice 1Thessalonians 5:21-22 – “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
c. Likewise, see 1John 4:1 – “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
3. A Christian’s open mind is a skeptical mind, not a gullible mind.
a. We should listen to new ideas with a healthy skepticism, for the world is filled with malice, deceit, and evil schemes.
b. Consider Ephesians 4:14-15 – “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”
c. Notice Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
d. This is why a child’s mind needs to be sheltered by his parents until he obtains maturity and a level of understanding of God’s word to wisely interpret information. See Psalm 119:9 – “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.”
4. A Christian’s open mind is a fair mind, not a partial mind.
a. Respect for God and His word conditions a Christian’s mind to make impartial and fair judgments about people and information. Such judgments should be dispensed according to God’s wisdom, not man’s wisdom.
b. Notice Leviticus 19:15 – “'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”
c. A Christian should be open-minded to hear all of a matter before rendering a judgment. Consider Proverbs 18:17 – “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.”
III. BEWARE OF CLOSED MINDS
A. Beware of those who speak of open-mindedness while refusing to consider the Bible.
1. To some, the idea of open-mindedness precludes any discussion of the Bible. Their idea is that belief in the Bible is equivalent to having a closed mind.
a. This is a problem in our government and its schools today. The so-called “separation of church and state” doctrine excludes the Bible from every issue. How can a Christian communicate in such an environment?
b. Those who seek to exclude the Bible are themselves closed-minded the single greatest source of truth.
2. For Christians, to exclude the Bible from a discussion is to exclude them from the discussion, for the Bible is the basis of everything they believe and practice (consider Psalm 119).
B. Beware of those who claim belief in the Bible but whose minds are closed to studying it.
1. Some like the notion of a Bible better than they like the actual words of the Bible.
a. Because of this, they are not open to studying every topic with an open Bible, but they prefer to cling to their own manmade religious traditions.
b. This happens even in the Lord’s church, so we must be very careful.
2. Some religious sects and denominations even discourage their members from personal study of the Bible.
a. Some require clergy guidance for any Bible education (example: Catholicism).
b. Some require a creed book or some other supplement to Bible study (example: The Watchtower Society).
3. Some religious sects and denominations have been so displeased with the content of the Bible that they published their own versions and altered the original message to their own liking.
4. An open-minded Christian will recognize that his understanding of the Bible is his own personal responsibility.
a. Notice Ephesians 3:4 – “By referring to this (Paul’s writings), when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.”
b. See Ephesians 5:17 – “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
c. Also consider 2Timothy 2:15 – “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
IV. CONCLUSION
A. Having an open mind and an open Bible does not mean that we should never settle on answers to any questions. It really means that we should be open to new questions that might be settled by the answers we have already settled by the Bible.
B. This is why Christians should carry open minds and open Bibles. “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1Pet. 3:15).