Hearing well

What’s wrong with this scene?

The worship leader introduced the service theme with care and led a carefully crafted opening prayer. Later on, someone else preached and someone prayed. While they did so the worship leader opened his ipad, looked at his face book page and read a page from a book.

We expect that those who preach and teach the Bible do their job well (eg 2 Tim 2:15; Jas 1:1). This means that the preacher is well prepared, devoted to his task and executes it with dependence on God and the best use of his gifts. A preacher who fails to do rightly comes under criticism.

But what of the listeners?

I was present at the above scene with the inattentive worship leader. I was appalled. It was made worse by the fact that he holds a senior ministry post. It’s the kind of scene that makes you wonder if this is an aberration or is it the real person. If it’s the real person, his fitness for a key ministry role is doubtful.

But then I thought. What kind of sermon listener am I? Maybe I am don’t give such obvious outward signs of inattentiveness, but what is going on inside me. Am I listening or are my thoughts wandering? If I am listening, am I listening as one who delights in God’s word, desires to know it as well as I can and who bends my will to live according to the word that I hear?

Jesus tells those who can hear to hear and warns that the measure of our hearing is the measure of what God will give us to hear (Mrk 4:9, 23-24). This coupled with his earlier words about the parables hiding things from outsiders (Mrk 4:11-12) is a warning that the hearing of the word of God is as serious a task as it’s preaching.

How can I be a responsible hearer of God’s word when I read it or hear it preached?

·      Prepared I can read and pray over the text before coming to the meeting. I can ensure that I am well rested an unhurried rather than rushed with last minute activities.

·      Focussed I can ensure that nothing needlessly distracts me during the preaching. If I am using a devise to read the Bible or take notes, put it to airline mode so that no distracting push-alert diverts me. I can keep my eyes in two places only: on my Bible and on the preacher.

·      Engaged I can engage with the word by taking notes. Even if I discard them afterwards, the act of taking them requires engaged listening rather than superficial attention.

·      Responsive The word is meant to change my beliefs and behaviours and make me a more complete Christian (2 Tim 3:15-17). Do I pray the word that I hear into my heart and life? As I listen am I looking for applications that I personalise and then pray into my heart, will and hands? Doing this avoids the problem of unprofitable knowledge (2 Pet 1:3-8).

It’s easy to criticise the way the worship leader was inattentive to the word. Perhaps I am better to look to myself and ensure that I learn from the bad example and become one who hears well.