Month: September 2024

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The Gift of Listening

From the Oscar-winning film, “Pulp Fiction”1 . . . 
Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman): In conversation, do you listen, or wait to talk?
Vincent Vega (John Travolta): I have to admit that I wait to talk, but I’m trying harder to listen.

My first Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend was in the Spring of 2009. Like all first-timers, I was nervous in the weeks leading up to the event, but by day two, Friday afternoon, I had become so excited and engaged that I was no longer thinking of the men in terms of inmate or outside volunteer. The atmosphere seemed as familiar and comfortable to me as any other gathering of friends, and by Saturday afternoon, I was amazed at the openness and joy in the room. I’d seen spiritual transformation before, but nothing like this. I thought to myself: “‘Listen, listen; love, love’ (the Kairos slogan) really works.”

Truly listening is truly loving. In his letter to early believers, the apostle James exhorted them, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”2 How can we begin to love our neighbors as ourselves if we don’t take time to understand them? Moreover, the psalmist celebrates the liberty we experience when God lends His ear to us. “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.”3 The 20th Century German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way: “God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives us God’s word, but also lends us God’s ear. We do God’s work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them. So often Christians, especially preachers, think that their only service is always to ‘offer’ something when they are together with other people. They forget that listenting can be a greateer service than speaking.”4

For most of us, selfless listening — effective listening — is sacrificial. We prefer to express ourselves, and when we do let others speak, perhaps we are, like the “Pulp Fiction” hitman, merely “waiting to talk.” But when, instead, we “try harder to listen,” our silence speaks with unmatched clarity. It says: “You matter. I care. Look up! There’s hope.”

Listening: it may be the greatest ministry to which God calls you today.

Father, You listen to my every prayer, even to the unarticulated cries of my soul. Grace me to listen selflessly to others, that they too would know the freedom, hope, and joy of being heard. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

1 Tarantino, Q. (1994). Pulp Fiction. Miramax.
2 James 1:19 ESV
3 Psalm 116:1-2 ESV
4 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (London: SCM, 1972), 75. https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/loving-people-by-listening/

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Called to Forbear

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. — Colossians 3:13 NIV

One of hardest things about Christianity is the whole “love one another” business. We endorse the noble notion, certainly — who wouldn’t? — but like so many lofty ideals, it is easier to affirm the concept than to assert it in the octagon cage match of life. And perhaps its most difficult application is with our fellow believers, for it is to each other that we make ourselves most vulnerable, and it is of each other that our expectations are highest. Then it is to believers that Paul writes, “Bear with each other . . .”1

What we need most to understand is that each of us in Christ is a work in progress. We all have “our thing” with which we struggle: it may manifest outwardly, like physical addictions or salty language; likely it roils even more so inwardly in the form of judgmentalism, grudges, pride, or the kind of fear that sends us scurrying back to the familiar rathole of “me first.” So, Jesus redirects all of mankind: “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”2 Don’t we have enough unfinished work inside ourselves than to kibitz about others’ shortcomings? And haven’t they enough troubles without us piling on? But I think even more to the point is this: When we see our own flaws and their far-flung dimensions in our life — and when we exasperate ourselves over our repeated failures — might we then view our brothers and sisters as fellow strugglers battling against temptations just as we are? We all are undergoing transformation into the image of Christ.3

So we are called to forbear, to extend the fruit of the Spirit — patience and self-control, in particular — to others as God conforms us to the image of his Son.4 Then may judging give way to understanding, accusation yield to intercession, gossip succumb to encouragement, and grievance bow to forgiveness. This is God’s higher way for us. May we walk in it.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”5 — Jesus

Father, we are lured to the ways that separate us from each other, but Your Spirit draws us to unity in Christ. Grace us to hear Your voice and choose Your path of forbearance and encouragement, that the body of Christ would flourish as one. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

1 Colossians 3:13 NIV
2 Matthew 7:3 NASB (cf Luke 6:41)
3 2 Corinthians 3:18
4 Romans 8:29
5 Matthew 5:7 ESV

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Who’s Got Your Vote?

It’s that time again — election season, when yard signs pop up like autumn weeds and social media erupts in partisan shrill. I feel the apostle’s anguish: “Who will deliver me?” Seriously, has digital bombast ever altered your convictions? Likely, it deepens your resolve, instead.

Will our problems go away after November 5 (Election Day) or January 20 (Inauguration Day)? The honest answer is, no; in this world we will always have threats and calamity. Which gives rise to another question: Is one candidate better equipped than the other to handle emerging challenges? Most of us would say, yes, and God’s Word would confirm some leaders are better suited to the task than others. In Proverbs we read, “Wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.”1 Also, “A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.”2 (Yikes!) There are differences in leadership ability, so we do well to look beyond professionally crafted campaign strategies and to be realistic as to who is better equipped to lead us amid the treachery in our world today.

Perhaps you’re waiting for me to air my support of one political candidate over another. I have my convictions — my choice is clear — and I will express them in the election booth, moreover, voting early to do so. Regardless of whether my presidential candidate wins or loses, however, this I believe, and in this I place my confidence: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”3 Again, “Put not your trust in princes . . . in whom there is no salvation.”4 It is natural to look to God when election results disappoint, yet it is equally important, indeed vital, to run to Him when things go our way, lest we misplace our trust.

How we vote matters: as responsible citizens, we must seek and apply godly wisdom. In Whom we place our confidence matters even more, for only God is worthy of our trust. He’s got my vote. What about you, how will you cast your ballot? Where will you place your trust for good?

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” — Proverbs 21:1 ESV

Father, we are overwhelmed with all sorts of worldly influence, much of it true and much of it false. We are tempted to vote by our worldly identity instead of Your heavenly wisdom. Send Your Spirit to guide us in Your ways and to draw us to Your throne. You and You alone are King, our Leader forever. Amen.

1 Proverbs 28:2 NLT
2 Proverbs 29:4 NLT
3 Psalm 118:8-9 ESV
4 Psalm 146:3 ESV