Monthly Archives: June 2014

Solid Christian … keep listening (ii)

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In the first part of this two-poster, I urged well-established Christians to keep listening to God’s word.

Part one is the real meat of this mini-series. So if you only have enough mental space for one blog idea today, ignore this second post.

(There’s a bit of danger in part two: if it’s cut free from listening closely to the Bible, what is written below could become an excuse for ignoring God. You can ask me more about that, if you like.)

earHere’s the nub of this post: well-established Christian folk need to keep listening to people.

Those who have been Christians for some time become involved in many ministries. They lead Bible study groups, teach Sunday School, visit people in homes, preach, talk to the grieving, pray for friends, follow-up newcomers to church, … Some people are employed to to these things, many aren’t.

We heard God’s word about Jesus, so we press on as servants of Jesus.

We can, however, become so good at our ministries that we stop listening. We have a answer to trot out. We easily identify the emotions someone is experiencing. We know the theological category that ‘fits’ the problem. And so we speak, without listening.

  • When youth group member raises predestination, we shoot out a pat answer (instead of asking, ‘Why do you think this is important?’)
  • When the parent speaks of tiredness, we think first of their poor techniques in keeping discipline (instead of asking how fatigue affects them)
  • When a friend starts to explain how they are, we finish their sentences

Often our impulse is right – we do have relevant experience, or helpful knowledge. But by not listening we mess up the opportunity to help. We come across as know-alls, rather than as help-alls. We look strong on knowledge but weak on wisdom.

Of course, ministry situations are always routine. There’s nothing new under the sun: the call to repentance and faith, struggling with deep ideas about God, striving to obey God in hard places, despair at continuing sin … they’ve all happened before.

But when a person shares with us their situation, it’s not routine at all – it’s personal. So let’s honour the privilege of hearing by actually listening.

 


 

Solid Christian … keep listening (i)

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Here’s half a plea to people who are well-established in their Christian faith: keep listening.

(The second half of this plea is really quite similar, and will be a separate post. But I’ll give you a hint: it’s keep listening.)

There’s something I’ve noticed in Bible study groups, general Christian conversation, sermons (live and on-line), social media posts, … People who I consider as solid Christian people using the Bible very loosely.

Perhaps they throw a single Bible phrase at a complex problem as if it solves the whole question. Perhaps they rote-speak a big Bible idea (‘Christ died for us’) as if we need to say this so the conversation can get to the really interesting stuff. Perhaps they hijack a Bible passage to use it as a hook for their latest hobby horse (and ignore what the passage really says). Or perhaps they complete a Bible study with no need of a Bible – every comment is a pre-digested ‘lump’ of theology dutifully regurgitated.

Preachers become enamoured with some philosophy, or the major ’cause’. Committed church members find more pleasure in serving that learning. Initial Christian instruction feels like enough thought to last a lifetime. The activity of life makes slow pondering feel like a waste of what’s precious, our time.

Whatever form it takes, my (half) plea comes from this observation: I see solid Christians lose the wonderful joy of discovering new things in God’s word.

I understand how we can become almost too familiar with some Bible words. ‘You must be born again.’ ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’ ‘The Lord is my shepherd.’

When we feel this over-familiarity, we need to remember the problem is in us. These truths are still wonderful, still life-giving, still refreshing. Every passage is newly a challenge – even if it’s most familiar.

See how the delight of the psalmist brackets active dedication to meditation on the Lord’s teaching:

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
(Psalm 119:14-116)

Let’s not just see this delight and meditation in our printed Bibles. Let’s see it also in ourselves – and all the more as we mature in faith. Keep listening!