Just Listen.

The power of a listening ear is something amazing. I have had several conversations with people this week that have made me realize this fact anew. Many of the conversations were with people who love Jesus deeply and have been walking with Him for many years. Yet as I reflect on the time we spent talking I am painfully aware of the fact that they weren’t listening. They came to the conversation with an agenda and then filtered my thoughts through their own perspective. I am guilty of the same thing, don’t get me wrong, but it hurts to be on the side of the practically ignored.

One of the issues that I think we struggle with as “the church” is that of listening. In his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey challenged us to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” We struggle with this as Christians because we feel such passion about what we believe to be true. Yet maybe in our hurry to convince the world of our message, we have not taken time to understand their perspective and let it shape the way we share our message. A gospel that rolls over people instead of caring about where they are is not good news at all. Maybe part of dying to self is dropping what we want to communicate until we have really heard AND understood where another is coming from. My thoughts were further stirred by Henri Nouwen who writes…

“Today I imagined my inner self as a place crowded with pins and needles. How could I receive anyone in my prayer when there is no real place for them to be free and relaxed? When I am so full of preoccupations, jealousies, angry feelings, anyone who enters will get hurt. I had a very vivid realization that I must create some free space in my innermost self so that I may invite others to enter…to pray for others means to offer others a hospitable place where I can really listen to their needs and pains. Compassion, therefore, calls for a self-scrutiny that can lead to inner gentleness…" (The Genesee Diary, p.145)

I think Jesus really listened. In fact, at times he heard what people were saying when they didn’t even really know themselves. In the process of listening to them Jesus helped them to see what was hidden deeply in their hearts. "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." (Prov. 20:5) And because He knew where they were coming from He was able to speak into the core of who they were. “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19) As we surrender to the Holy Spirit and listen to people, our own hearts are purified and we are better able to speak in line with the Spirit of God.

Listening needs to become a way of life for those who dare to follow Jesus.