HOW WELL DO YOU LISTEN?

Mike Johnson

How well do you listen?  We would not remember some of the most famous statements ever made if someone had not listened carefully to what was said.   Listening correctly is very important to learning.  One person put it like this: “Talk, and you say what you already know, but listen, and you learn something new.” A speaker needs to prepare his speech well and present it clearly.  However, a good speaker must have a good audience to be effective.

Jesus often challenged people by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mt. 11:15; 13:43; Mk. 4:9).  On one occasion (Mt. 15:10), he said to a multitude He had called together, “Hear, and understand.”  In the Parable of the Sower, the seed that fell on the good soil is described by one who hears the word, receives it, and brings forth much fruit (Mk. 4:20).

The importance of an audience being willing to listen and listen objectively can be illustrated by the two audiences of Acts 2 and 7.  In Acts 2 (on the day of Pentecost), Peter was the speaker, while in Acts 7 (before the Jewish council), Stephen was the one who spoke.  A close study of these two sermons will reveal that their basic message was the same.  With both, the speaker tried to convince the people that they had rejected and crucified God’s son and they needed to repent and become Christians.  Consider the reaction to Peter’s sermon: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (2:37) They were then told they needed to repent and be baptized (v. 38), and verse 41 shows their response as it says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Stephen, on the other hand, got a very adverse reaction to his preaching in Acts 7.  Instead of repenting, verse 57-58a says, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.”

What was the difference?  Both Peter and Stephen preached basically the same message.  The difference was the audience.  One group was willing to objectively listen with a receptive heart while the other audience closed its ears.

Jesus often had very unreceptive audiences.  He described the people of his day when he said of them, “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” (Mt. 13:14-15).  Isaiah and Paul applied this description to the people of their day in Isaiah 6:9-10 and Acts 28:26-27.   This same concept applies to many people in our time.

What are the lessons for us?  First, we must make sure that we are always receptive to God’s Word.  We need to have a willingness to listen and to obey.  It is surprising how many Christians are very closed-minded on many Bible subjects.  We need to be like those of Berea, who the writer describes as nobler than those of Thessalonica, as they received the word with readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul taught was true.  Secondly, we must realize all who we teach will not obey.  We should always try to improve our knowledge of the Bible and work on our presentation of God’s Word.  However, we must remember that although some will obey, others will not.   Some will be like those compared to the good ground in the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:8, 23).  They will receive the word and bear fruit, while others will be like those compared to the wayside (Mt. 13:4,19) as they will be unreceptive.  Therefore, we must not get discouraged when our efforts to teach others are unsuccessful.  We must remember there are different kinds of soils and not get discouraged.

In conclusion, how do you listen to God’s Word?  James 1:21 tells us how we should hear as the writer said, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”