Listening For Grace

“…The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood…” (Jn 1:14a)

Paul writes - One of the important points McLaren is making concern the broader issues of how and more importantly when we communicate.

“…I think [churches need to] have less preaching and more listening. In other words, less dogmatic religion and more responsive [gospelling]. People today I think crave to be heard, they want their stories to be heard, and they don't want to feel that religion is simply being dropped on them from a great height - they find that terribly oppressive.” David Tacey

Listening needs to be always prior to speaking (“two ears, one mouth”). We don't need to be gay, but in our listening we need to situate ourselves IN the neighbourhood, not apart from it, not apart from it “throwing” something called ‘truth’ into it. Remember, "Truth" is a person - Jesus. We need to take time to locate the aready present Jesus -"Truth" in the midst of; "Truth" among...

We need to listen well - to listen for the deep things. Listening requires an act of trust in God and a love and respect for those we are listening too, or in on-going conversation with.  Listening is an act of respect, a sign that the church takes people seriously enough to pay attention to them. Listening shows that we love and take God seriously enough to actually pay attention to God, to trust God, and to wait for God” Listening allows time for the questions to emerge. It honours the inner work of God from which the questions emerge.

Listening gives space and opportunity for us to love; to love a person, to care for a person; to attend lovingly, cruciformly to a human being. Listening looks for and listens for the unique ways in which this person “images” God their creator. In listening, in prompting, in walking alongside (“with space in between”) we are privileged the opportunity to draw this out, to nourish, nurture, and protect to often hidden, this often broken and marred “icon.” In walking alongside we acknowledge that we are also damaged, also broken, also in need to being put back together again.

“We have to recognise that most of what we say today does not cut through to real life and we must find ways to do that. Generally speaking, we have to address the real needs of people – to understand those needs and to devise ways to help people understand that you are talking to them about their needs” (Dallas Willard).

We need to learn the kind of communication skills (the first one being "listening" from within the neighbourhood) that enable us to communicate concerning biblical concepts like “sin” and “judgment” etc. in ways that are both biblically faithful, but which don’t have the kind of unhelpful baggage that have accumulated around their use and especially their misuse over the years. It is being familiar enough about what is being conveyed by biblical terms such as “sin” to use different words, images, and stories to convey the unchanging truth and reality behind term, e.g. we could talk of “sin” in terms of dislocation or brokenness, or “sin” in terms of that which diminishes, lessens, and damages God’s creative intention in creating us as persons in his image; those things which make us feel less than we deeply know we should be.

This “deeper knowing” takes time and needs help to emerge. See my earlier post: Working with what’s Already There…A Living and Mutual Seeking after God. Substitute “pastor / leader / director” for “friend” or “somebody who cares and loves enough to walk alongside.”

Comments

[Craig]

It shouldn't seem strange to imagine an actively listening Christ, but it does. I end up with an image of the transcendent sitting on a phone line or skyping billions of people.

I'm trying to picture a "personed", "listening Christ". That could make an interesting work of art.

[Kelly]

it's an interesting concept for me to explore sin in brokenness.

obviously this brokenness would be that pain which has come into our lives either under or out of our control, not the brokenness that is sometimes necessary to meet God.

but i guess anything that hinders the creativity and glory of God to flow in us and through us would qualify as sin... i know this was a minute point in the article, but it opened up a new concept for me. thanks!

[Kyle]

I appreciate this comments in listening. Cheers.