Hurry Up And Listen

This is part of an email that I sent to a friend:

I’ve come to the realization that the “art” of listening is a very rare thing indeed. People just don’t want to listen. Especially Christians. So many of us believe that we have found this truth and that we know everything there is to know about life, after-life and everything in between. So many Christians walk around thinking they’re some kind of miniature counselor and all they want to do is impart wisdom and understanding to all those sinners out there who are so lost. Well I believe that one of the greatest ministries a Christ-follower can use with a non Christ-follower is simply listening. What if we were known to take the time to listen to people. What if we were known to invest time, energy and resources into people who don’t believe the same things we do. What if we treated them the same way we treat our “brothers and sisters in Christ”.

One thing I’ve always thought you were good at is listening. You’re a good listener. I’m not a counselor nor do I pretend to know anything about the profession but I think that maybe the best counselors out there aren’t the guys who can spout off some canned counselor book answer for anything and everything that is disclosed before them but it’s those guys who take the time and listen to everything that is being said. They listen, listen, listen and then maybe say something relevant to that person. Not because they’ve “seen cases like this before” but because they’ve listened and they know this person a little bit better and are able to impart something that is of value and pertinence to that individual.