Listening

Anyone who saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, saw a man who listened.  In fact the subject, Mister Rogers, listened until the person he was listening to was done speaking.  Not only did Fred Rogers hear what he was being told, but he listened deeply enough to respond having understood what the person was telling him.

When I saw the movie, it truly struck me how little I listen, and when I do listen, I listen to respond more than to understand.  The movie changed the way I listen to people.

Mister Rogers was a Presbyterian Minister, not just a television personality.  His listening was a form of the kindness we are to show to all people, and he did it well.  It struck me during the movie how much Jesus must have listened to sincere people in that way.  Then it struck me that I should do this as well.

When we listen to people to understand what they are trying to tell us, we earn the respect of that person in our responses.

I’m currently teaching a class on witnessing.  This is a very difficult class for me since I’m not very good/successful at sharing the gospel.  To teach others, we need to know how to do things.  Most of what I’ve been sharing is about my failures, the people I’ve seemed to turn off with my approach.  And, I think this is my very problem, I don’t listen well.

When I do listen, the conditions change.  Some people will talk for five or ten minutes about something I really could care less about.  I used to turn away or look for an excuse, an escape from the conversation.  God has used the Beautiful Day film to change my life and how I approach people, for a lack of a better word.

So much of the literature I’ve gone over in preparing the Witnessing class shares a lot of approaches, how to enter into a conversation, tricks to pull to get a person to hear what you’re saying.  I really don’t see that in Scripture.  Jesus didn’t use tricks.  He listened to people and explained how He could provide for their needs.

The number of people I’ve directly led to the Lord are very few, but the ones I have led to the Lord were done as I listened to them in order to understand them and their needs. I was also calm when sharing with these people because I was more interested in what they had to say than my nervousness.

Listening calms us.  Rather than feeling the pressure to jump into a powerful witnessing session, listening can overcome our nervousness.  We feel a bond beginning between us and the speaker.

Psalm 31:13 is God talking about how He so wishes we would listen to Him.  Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!  I guess we’re just not the listening people we should be. But, God has so much to say to us if we would listen:

Jer. 33:2,3 2 “Thus says Yahweh who made the earth,Yahweh who formed it to establish it— Yahweh is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known

Listening doesn’t just effect us.  It effects those we listen to. In the class, I tell a true story of a college student who approached his psychology professor telling him about a girl he was interested in, but she didn’t know he existed.  “How can I get her to like me?” he asked.  The professor’s advice was this: “Ask her questions, listen to the answers, then ask more questions about those answers.”  The young man returned a couple of weeks later and told the professor “I tried what you said, and boy she loves me!”

Listening is a powerful thing.  In witnessing, it gives the listener a sort of credit and credibility.  When the one talking finishes what they had to say, they want to hear a response and will listen as you have.  Sometimes, that’s the opening we need to share the Truth that changed our lives and can change theirs.  Sometimes, it’s just a chance to help, build a foundation of trust, so you can share that gospel at a more opportune time.

Why is this important?

This same bond we have between us and others can be had with our Lord and will grow the more we listen to Him by reading His Word and listening in prayer.  Often I shoot up a prayer in a hurry and fail to listen for an answer.  Mister Rogers always listened for an answer from the people he spoke with.  Should we do less when we talk with our Lord?

How about we decide to spend a little less time talking – to friends, relatives, strangers, and most importantly to Jesus – and a little more time listening.  Maybe we’ll grow more, learn more, and who knows we might make a few more friends as well as brothers and sisters in the Lord. We might even please God.