The Lost Art of Listening

Scripture

1Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. 3“You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said. 4Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. Acts 11:1-4

Observation

Before Peter could even open his mouth to explain, the Jews of the circumcision laid in to Peter for spending time with the uncircumcised Gentiles. This must have felt like a flashback to all of those times when the Pharisees couldn’t hear a single word Jesus was saying because of all the accusation they were spewing for who He spent time with. The Greek word here for “criticized” is to to separate oneself in a hostile spirit, to oppose, strive with, dispute, contend with a person. This was not the warm welcome one would hope to find when hearing of the Gospel reaching the nations and the Holy Spirit being poured out on all. That was the exact problem. They weren’t hearing anything because they weren’t listening to Peter, worse they weren’t listening to The Holy Spirit. As Peter shared his story of the vision of unclean foods he was honest about not wanting to listen to God’s voice and how he objected three times. God, in His infinite patience, was willing to walk Peter through the open door to the Gentiles and all Peter was asking for was the same willingness to listen from his Jewish brothers. They had already judged him as guilty before even hearing the case. It wasn’t until after Peter told the story that we read, “When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.” (Acts 11:18) The Greek phrase for “stopped objecting” literally means to “hold your peace” or “to keep quiet”. What if they had led with that? What if they had led with listening?

Application

What a better world this would be if we would all hold our peace and listen before talking, lean in before letting loose, hear the heart before jumping to conclusions. I’m reminded of that old saying from the philosopher Epictetus, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” The irony of course is that Peter was always known for doing the exact opposite and yet here we see him growing as a leader. A leader is one who listens more than they speak. Peter listened to the vision from God, he listened to the Gentile Cornelius as he shared his story about the angel, he listened as the Holy Spirit told him to travel to their house. This was a whole new Peter. Because he listened he had a front row seat and the birth of the Gentile Church. I wonder what I’m missing out on because I talk way more than I listen? In his book “The Lost Art of Listening: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships”, author Michael P. Nichols writes, “A good listener is a witness, not a judge of your experience….we must forget ourselves and submit to the other person’s need for attention.”

Prayer

Thank You Lord for listening to me. Forgive for how often I am talking to You instead of listening to You. Forgive for how often I will judge a person before ever hearing them out. The story reveals the glory of how You are moving, but if I never take time to hear it I will never have time to see it. I want to be a part of the new thing You are doing and that means I need to shut up and listen up. Thank You for this reminder this morning. I’m listening.