Tag: Kairos

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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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The Engine Roared

Occasionally, I stop by NAPA to purchase some fuel injector cleaner. (It is far less expensive to prevent buildup than to clean clogged fuel injectors.) And it strikes me that on these shelves are enough parts to build an engine that roars. But there they sit, each tucked away inside of its own cardboard box, and huddled up with other parts exactly like it, all of them doing nothing. I realize the purpose of an auto parts store is not to build a new engine, per se, but to equip mechanics for repair. Still, it’s a little ironic, isn’t it?

A team of 46 men just completed a Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend, and it was a picture of the body of Christ at work—each one assuming his assigned role in and among the others, and all converging to share the love and forgiveness found in Christ Jesus. Leaders led, servants served, and musicians ushered us into praise and worship. Table family leaders facilitated discussions — “listen, listen; love, love” is the Kairos slogan — opening the hearts and mouths of the 42 residents in attendance. Then there were the men and women who supported the Weekend from outside the walls: the bakers who baked over 4,000-dozen cookies and the pray-ers who, in half-hour shifts, covered almost the entire 3½ days in intercession. It was a picture of the body of Christ: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”1 For “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”2 What happens when everyone functions in his/her capacity? Consider these inmate testimonies . . .

“I was hateful and spiteful. I didn’t nor couldn’t abide Christians. I have torn Bibles apart and spit on Christians. Now I have found an unconditional love I never expected.”

“This is awesome, so beautiful. I’m still locked up physically, but inside I’m free.”

“I came to this weekend very angry and hateful. I had asked God before to change me. I had asked him for a family. Now I’m looking at the whole bunch of people who are my family.”

“God has a plan for every one of us. I didn’t understand this until I got here (prison). I was stuck to addictions, but God sent the police, a judge, and then prison. This weekend is step 1. Tomorrow is step 2. I will strive to be a better person because of God.”

“I’ve changed! I’ve changed! I’ve changed!”

“Around here, we’re known by our number or our last name, but you [volunteers] called us by name. Thank you for giving us our names back.”

There were many amazing testimonies, and surely more unspoken. The body of Christ came together, each as called, and the engine roared.

Father, “Here I am! Send me.”3 Yes, show me my role in Your body today, and send me. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV
2 1 Corinthians 12:18 ESV
3 Isaiah 6:8 ESV

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Out of Many, One

Tomorrow night, forty-five men will begin to prepare for a Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend at Marion Correctional Institution (MCI). We will meet for several hours on eight consecutive Thursday nights to learn from each other, understand our individually assigned roles, tend to logistics, pray and worship together, and to draw near to each other in the Spirit. Along the way, there will grow a shared singularity of purpose among us and a mutual trust, and on the last weekend of October, we will enter the prison—forty-five individuals, united. It is but one manifestation of God’s grace in Christ Jesus, and a microcosm of His church on Earth: “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people . . .”1 In Christ, believers are the “E Pluribus Unum” of His Kingdom—out of many, we are one.

To the church in Rome, Paul taught, “As in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”2 So it is that, on the Kairos Weekend, table servants will minister attentively, filling empty coffee cups and replenishing cookie trays, while others toil in the kitchen unnoticed. Some will give talks and share relatable testimonies, after which others will engage in participant discussions. Our timekeeper will quietly keep things moving as close to schedule as the environment allows, while our coordinator liaises with the administration as needed. And the musicians will lead us to the throne of God in worship and praise.

Over the years, I have intently listened to many MCI residents as they witnessed to the personal impact of their Kairos Weekend. Conspicuously absent from their individual testimonies is this: the tendency to credit any single Kairos volunteer for their powerful weekend experience. A given speaker may have said something especially resonating, perhaps, and maybe a one-on-one conversation was particularly helpful. But what the participants see is the body of Christ, led by Christ, deeply bonded and acting as one—grown up “to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”3 Out of many, we are one. So prayerfully seek to unite with others in ministry, for together in Christ we will do and see great things. It’s awesome!

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”—1 Corinthians 12:27

Father, You do wonderous things through us, Your people, the body of Christ. Inspire us to live and serve as one, each of us doing as we are called and gifted to do. The glory will be Yours. In Christ, we pray. Amen.

1 Peter 2:10
2 Romans 12:4-5
3 Ephesians 4:15-16 NIV