Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Art of Listening

Have a read of this paragraph by Merold Westphal and feel the conviction that I felt after doing so!

If I am a good listener, I don't interrupt the other or plan my own next speech while pretending to be listening. I try to hear what is said, but I listen just as hard for what is not said and for what is said between the lines. I am not in a hurry, for there is no pre-appointed destination for the conversation. There is no need to get there, for we are already here; and in the present I am able to be fully present to the one who speaks. The speaker is not an object to be categorized or manipulated, but a subject whose life situation is enough like my own that I can understand in spite of the differences between us. If I am a good listener, what we have in common will be more important that what we have in conflict.

This listening heart applies to so many situations. The key, as Westphal says it, is to be present in the present. In the words of Jim Elliot, "Wherever you are, be all there." Too often we simply use the present to manipulate and cajole our desired future into being. We talk to people as if they are objects to gain utility from, and so our conversations involve little more than waiting for moments that will never come.

Can I apply this to preaching? You bet I can! The preacher must first be a good listener. After all, the preacher is not uttering his own words but the words given to him by an Other. Every sermon should be the result of a conversation with Scripture. The preacher may -- indeed must -- ask questions and bring his own life to the table, but he must not manipulate Scripture to achieve his own desires. He must listen; he must hear what the word of God is saying in the present time, and allow the presence of God to shape the future. The same holds true for the congregation. We must be good listeners. We must be present, without a destination in mind, and always open to the "newness of life" created by the spirit of truth, who operates in texts, sermons, and -- most importantly of all -- hearts of flesh like yours and mine.

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