Posts
In my morning rounds of blog-reading I came across a posting by Thabiti Anyabwile regarding the preaching and listening of the Word of God. I thought it worth sharing.
"The more I preach, the more convinced I am of two things. First, preaching is really, really difficult. Second, listening to preaching is really, really difficult. Even the best of listeners struggle with poor preaching. And the best preaching can't cure the worst listening. You want both. Great preaching and great listening. That combination best edifies preacher and people, strengthening the church in the most profound way. But even good preaching and good listening should result in good growth by the grace of God. So, the effort is well rewarded.
I'm convinced that how we listen to a sermon makes tremendous and profound difference in our encounter with the word of God and the God of the word. And that's no revelation I just sat here and thought up. It's what the Bible itself teaches. Ever wonder why the Bible so frequently exhorts us to listen, to pay attention, to heed? Ever wonder why Jesus so often begins His teaching with, "Have you not heard?" Or, take Solomon. Breeze through the opening chapters of Proverbs and count the number of times he writes, "Listen, my son." And then there are all the biblical rebukes for not listening, for being stiff-necked, slow to hear, and the like.
God is a speaking God. We must, then, be a listening people. In fact, the difference between an eternity of enjoying God and an eternity of wrath comes down to whether we listen to the message preached. "Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God." So, this is an issue of extremely vital importance. Our spiritual health depends upon hearing God clearly, which depends upon knowing how to listen.
Likewise, listening to and benefiting from sermons requires good filters.
The first and most important filter for the listener is a "True or False" filter. The listener must ask themselves: "Is what I'm hearing true or false?" A true/false filter is a clean listening filter for those wanting to grow by the word of God.
The truth–the whole counsel of God–is good for us. Falsehood misleads and destroys us. So, we must first come to the word thinking and listening with the categories or filter of true and false. Is the preacher giving me the truth here? Reject everything that is false. But thankfully embrace the truth with both arms. Hold it close to your bosom and love it. Christians are truth people, and faithful servants of the word declare the truth."
I'm convinced that how we listen to a sermon makes tremendous and profound difference in our encounter with the word of God and the God of the word. And that's no revelation I just sat here and thought up. It's what the Bible itself teaches. Ever wonder why the Bible so frequently exhorts us to listen, to pay attention, to heed? Ever wonder why Jesus so often begins His teaching with, "Have you not heard?" Or, take Solomon. Breeze through the opening chapters of Proverbs and count the number of times he writes, "Listen, my son." And then there are all the biblical rebukes for not listening, for being stiff-necked, slow to hear, and the like.
God is a speaking God. We must, then, be a listening people. In fact, the difference between an eternity of enjoying God and an eternity of wrath comes down to whether we listen to the message preached. "Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God." So, this is an issue of extremely vital importance. Our spiritual health depends upon hearing God clearly, which depends upon knowing how to listen.
Likewise, listening to and benefiting from sermons requires good filters.
The first and most important filter for the listener is a "True or False" filter. The listener must ask themselves: "Is what I'm hearing true or false?" A true/false filter is a clean listening filter for those wanting to grow by the word of God.
The truth–the whole counsel of God–is good for us. Falsehood misleads and destroys us. So, we must first come to the word thinking and listening with the categories or filter of true and false. Is the preacher giving me the truth here? Reject everything that is false. But thankfully embrace the truth with both arms. Hold it close to your bosom and love it. Christians are truth people, and faithful servants of the word declare the truth."
Pastor Anyabwile further provides some thoughts on "True or False" filters. You can read the entire post at http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/
posted by john d.
No comments:
Post a Comment