“Everyone should be quick to listen…” James 1:19

I was speaking to a good friend the other week and he revealed that he was getting really frustrated and fed up with his job. He’s the senior pastor in a large church which he has pastored for many years, and although many people turn up on a Sunday morning he feels like no one is ever really listening to him.

I know his frustration as I have felt it first hand. You spend week after week preparing sermons, counseling and having coffee with people, teaching at Bible studies, all the while imparting advice, answering questions, and trying your best to make people understand the deeper things of the faith, and yet, at times it seems that no one is listening. In fact, there have been times when I have felt like knocking on some people’s heads and shouting, “Hello, Mcfly! Anyone home?”

The truth is we live in a society that likes to do it’s own thing and that includes choosing who we listen to. Whereas generally this is a good thing, as we should be careful of who we listen to, from my understanding the pastor is the one person in the church whose advice, and theological insights, we should not ignore. And if you feel that they should be ignored then maybe it’s high time you found another church or pastor!

Let’s look at it this way. If you went to work and failed to listen to your boss instead doing your own thing, you would probably get reprimanded or fired. And if you went to the doctors and refused to listen to his advice, then you might just end up catching something nasty. Likewise, if we fail to listen to God’s instruction as it is imparted through his faithful servants, then we could find ourselves knee deep in trouble.

I realize that pastors are only human and that their advice doesn’t always hit the mark, but we employ these men and women to teach and lead us. If this is so then why are so many not listening or following?

Is there anyone listening? Well… are you?

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
January, 2009

Picture by Anonymous

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