Monthly Archives: October 2012

Wisdom Wednesday – Listen Before You Lecture (Proverbs 18:2)

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Proverbs 18:2 “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

Do you hear what others have to say before you give your opinion?

Do you only pause in a conversation to plan what you’ll say next?

Would you say you’re a good listener?

If not, you may be a fool.

Simply put, a fool is someone who’s is characterized by not being teachable. Whether it’s out of ignorance or deliberate decisions, they resist listening and learning from others. Ultimately, it’s because they think they know what’s best.

Are you foolish when it comes to listening?

Take a moment to reflect on the two areas this shows up most.

Our relationship with others

Do you listen well to other people?

I have a friend named Zach Schlegel who’s a wonderful listener. He’s a humble brother who loves other people and it shows by the way he regularly asks questions and listens to people’s responses. When I get done spending time with Zach, I feel refreshed because I know he’s listened to me and actually cares about what I’m saying. That quality makes someone a good friend and a good spouse.

Are you a good listener?

This morning I met with a brother and during our conversation I found myself interrupting him. I must have done it 3 or 4 times. I wasn’t listening well, but rather I was processing my thoughts and looking for an opportunity to spit them out. I was acting foolish.

Listening well to others is always important, particularly in conflict. A regular exercise we use in marriage counseling is for me to ask a wife to summarize what she sees as an area of struggle in their marriage. When she’s done, I ask her husband to summarize what she has just said. Very often he’ll give it a go and then I’ll ask his wife if he was understanding her. Most guys fail the first few times…because they aren’t listening.

Do you take pleasure in understanding?

If not, you might be a fool.

Our relationship with God.

Do you listen to God?

How do you begin your day?

Is it in a humble posture of coming to the Lord and asking Him to speak to you through His word and through prayer?

Do you meet with God before you meet with other people?

One of my mentors, Tommy Nelson, used to say that “if you don’t pray or read your Bible it’s because you have more confidence in your ability to run your life than you do in God’s ability to run your life.”

Do you listen regularly to God?

Or do you try to make it through life on distant conversations you’ve had with Him in the past?

Is His Word fresh on your heart each day?

If not, you might be a fool.

Do you ever get away?

Just you and Jesus?

Is the only quiet you ever have when you lock yourself in the bathroom?

The devil’s greatest tool is distraction. He wants our minds cluttered and lives busy with things to do, things to say, and things to keep your attention.

When was the last time you really stepped away for more than 30 minutes into a place where it was just you and God and His Word?

No people. No phone. No texts. No Tweets. No Facebook. No email. No TV. No radio.

Just you and God, alone – with ears and heart attentive.

Do you take pleasure in understanding what He has to say to you?

If not, you might be a fool.

Let’s not be foolish. Listen to others, listen to God. You’ll increase the likeliness that you’ll have something good to say.

What Did St. Francis Really Say About Preaching the Gospel?

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If you’ve ever talked with a Christian about evangelism, you’ve probably heard the now famous words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi that go something like this— “preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary.”

That’s tweetable, but did St. Francis really say that? And more importantly, is it wise advice?

This slogan is actually an apparent misquote of what Francis said in chapter 17 of his Rules of the Friar (1221). Here’s the quote in full:

Ch. 17 — Of Preachers.

“Let none of the brothers preach contrary to the form and institution of the holy Roman Church, and unless this has been conceded to him by his minister. But let the minister take care that he does not grant this leave indiscreetly to anyone. Nevertheless, let all the brothers preach by their works. And let no minister or preacher appropriate to himself the ministry of brothers or the office of preaching, but let him give up his office without any contradiction at whatever hour it may be enjoined him. Wherefore I beseech in the charity which God is all.”

What St. Francis told his friars was not to preach unless they had received proper permission to do so. And that even if they didn’t get to preach, he wanted to make sure that “all the brothers preach by their works.”

I don’t post this to defend St. Francis and his theology. To be honest, I’ve never read anything else he’s ever said (except some of his bird sermons). I do know however that somewhere along the line, someone stretched what he said into something Jesus and the Scriptures never say.

We must preach the Gospel at all times, and to do that we must use words. We can’t preach by our deeds. That’s like saying feed hungry people, use food if necessary.

The Gospel is a message that must be proclaimed with words. We can and must affirm the message of the Gospel by our deeds, but we can’t live the message clearly enough to help people know that we aren’t just moral atheists or Hindus or Muslims or Mormons. Jesus was the Word made flesh, but still used words to warn, instruct, and encourage those he ministered to.

The way people know who Christ is, what He requires of them, and why we live the way we do is to proclaim, with words, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, preach the Gospel at all times, and since its necessary, use words.