Word for the Day: Listen

Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who only wanted to speak?
God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason! We should listen more and talk less!

Word for the Day: Listen

"A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart."

(Proverbs 18:2)

Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who only wanted to speak? What was supposed to be a two-way conversation degenerated into a one-sided monologue. The Bible says the person who only wants to speak and not listen is a fool. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason! We should listen much more and talk much less. This is an area of the Christian life that I am growing in. As a preacher, I am very used to speaking, answering questions, or giving reasons for what I believe. There is certainly a time and place for such speaking, but I am also called to zip the lip, listen to people, and not be the only one talking.

Those who share their faith best are also good listeners. People want to be heard. If you take the time to ask questions and listen well, the Holy Spirit will guide you in the conversation and help you turn the discussion to spiritual matters.

Randy Neuman's book, Questioning Evangelism, argues quite convincingly that as we witness to those who do not know God, we should engage more in the Socratic, dialogical approach, and much less the one-sided approach where we do all the talking.

If you want to win more friends and influence more people, then try and be more like Kim. I heard about Kim years ago when I was a seminary student. A professor at a seminary was also serving a local church as their interim pastor. He had heard so

much about one of the church members named Kim, and all of it was good. He thought to himself that he just had to meet her. The minister met Kim and thought she was very nice indeed, but soon discovered why she was so deeply loved and respected in the church. When the interim pastor asked Kim about herself, she answered very briefly, then said, "Enough about me; please tell me about you. What is it like to be a professor in seminary and also an interim pastor? I bet that's really cool. Can you tell me what that's like?" The pastor said he found himself going on and on talking because she was such a good listener and was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

My good friend, Andy Spencer, discusses in his book, Leadership from the Sidelines, what he calls "the $20,000 question". I encourage you to read his book because it is very good and contains many jewels of wisdom. The question he encourages his readers to ask is one that he said has helped him greatly in business and in life. The $20,000 question is, "Can you tell me more about that?" This is a simple, and yet very powerful and insightful question. Try asking this question the next time you have a conversation with someone, especially if the conversation is either getting boring or heated.

Two ears, one mouth; that's the rest of the story. Have a great day!

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Podcast of the Week

REvangelical Rewind:
Helping the Destitute and Transforming a Nation
with Christ's Love, with Fred Eppright

Pastor Danny welcomes to the show Fred Eppright of the Baptist Haiti Mission and the IMPACTcares Foundation. Fred shares the story of the Baptist Haiti Mission and how he and his son, Matt, got involved. Fred, Matt, and their partners at the BHM are doing truly powerful, invaluable work. We think you will be blessed to hear about what they are doing.

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