Are We Really Listening?
Posted on September 30th, 2009.by Pastor James Bell
Some people can stare a hole through your forehead, listening intently to every word you say…except they aren’t. That’s right, they are not listening at all. Once the focus is fixed with those piercing eyeballs, their minds are off to explore the vast world of imagination and day dreams. They usually leave one little strand of sensory perception activated just to make sure they don’t utter a stupid response to something serious.
“You know, my little dog was run over by a car last year, the same year we lost the house.”
“Hey, that’s great!”
There has to be something plugged into reality to keep things like that from happening. But the other 98% of the mind has checked out, looking for greener pastures. Unfortunately, this dubious skill can lead us to new depths of underachievement. Grades suffer, contracts are lost, marital problems escalate, and Type A personalities tend to lose patience, if not their sanity.
I remember an elementary-age girl once saying to me, “Pastor, you need to pray for me. The doctor says I have ADD. My parents cried when he told them. I may not be around here much longer.” After assuring her that she would live through this diagnosis, I recognized the relief on her face as an emotion I have often felt myself. I just didn’t hear it right the first time. I wasn’t listening well.
Ever wonder how God might feel about the way we “unlisten” to what he says? I mean, if we believe prophetic words are God-given, shouldn’t our response be more than singing the chorus of a worship song one more time? And if we don’t believe that prophetic words are from God, then why do we allow them in a service? Truth is, we do, but we don’t. We do believe, but we don’t always really hear the word. Or maybe we just don’t know how we should react to it.
In a recent service, I shared a vision God gave me for our church. It was about four lions. The four lions represented a four-fold progression of negative influence, beginning with rejection. Rejection gave birth to hopelessness (depression), which gave birth to fear. Fear then birthed offense, and offense caused people to do things and feel things that were not the norm for them.
People leave churches because of offense. Friendships are broken, emotions are trampled upon, and hearts are left devastated. But we seldom trace the symptom back to the source. It started, maybe years ago, with rejection. Depression was struggled with, but life continued on. Fear walked in with the person, or persons, when they first visited our church.
“Will they like me? Will we be accepted and loved here? Can I get plugged in and involved here? Will this church finally validate me after all this time?”
But the purpose of the church is to glorify God, not to validate people. We encourage each other, but only the blood of Jesus validates us before the Most High God. Ministry is because we love him, not because we can do it with a certain level of expertise or giftedness. Do we really hear that in the written words of Jesus? Do we really listen to that part of the gospel?
Jesus not only loves us, but he also cares about how we live our lives. He has called us to be a part of his great plan. Hey, if he wants to pull me out of a ditch here and there, getting me back on the road to advancing his kingdom, I’m all ears. But after we listen, what do we actually do?
We can look in the mirror and admit that we choose to be, or not be, offended. Then fear is addressed as a lack of intimacy with Jesus. Hope is restored and depression evaporates. Rejection seems so insignificant now, as we view it from our vantage point of being “in Christ”.
You know, a person can listen to a word and not really hear it. Words are wasted on selective hearing. But it’s also true that a person can listen to what God is saying and profit from it. I am listening. I am hearing. I am changing.
Wanna ride?
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