Be Noble and Sober-Minded!

1st Peter 5:8 -- Be sober-minded!

Onbe part of being a sober-minded person is to read, or listen to, original material. This is true in Christian teaching. Just because someone says Preacher X is good or bad, or that he says A,B, or C, doesn't prove it. The person making the claim could be in innocent error. They could have misconstrued something. Some people even lie! So you shou;ld check it out for yourself. Same thing is true in politics: Is there controversy over an presidential executive order? Go ahead and read the actual EO! "I will believe / not believe this good / bad statement about X because I like / dislike X"  is not sober-minded.

In other words, ignore that firebrand conservative talk show host! Ignore that ranting liberal TV pundit! Read the real transcripts of real speeches and talks. Read the U.S. Constitution, too!

To be a good Christian citizen, we must not just blindly believe secondary claims. This principle is similar to when people say nonsense things to us Christians about what our Bible supposedly teaches. For instance, Muslims are taught that the Bible teaches that God had sexual intercourse with Mary! The best cure for that falsehood is to encourage a Muslim to read the Bible for him or herself, and they will quickly see that Mohammad taught a falsehood. 

Be a Berean! They were noble-minded and checked the original source material to see if what Paul preached was true. Acts 17:11.  It's a good habit to develop.