We live in a noise filled world. I think the idea of perfect
silence is terrifying to the majority of Americans. Elevators have music so that
you can avoid the pure silence of climbing a few floors with someone you don’t
know, which is often times awkward. When you are waiting on the phone,
businesses employ background waiting music. Stores play songs, we sleep with
sound machines or tvs or radios. We listen to something in the car whether we
are riding alone or not. Sound surrounds us. We even invest in surround sound!
One of the great things about hearing is that it stimulates
memory. Sure, you can passively hear something in the background if you are
focused on something else or on nothing at all. But, when you hear something
repeated over and over again, your brain creates a peg on which that bit of
information hangs. My 9th grade English teacher would tell us that
if you hear something for 21 consecutive days that it would be stored in your
long-term memory. I think that statement is in my long term memory because she
said it so often.
How about hearing the Word of God? How often do we take time to listen to the Bible being read aloud? Don Whitney says this, “The easiest of the [spiritual]
disciplines related to the intake of God’s Word is simply hearing it.”[1]
Perhaps this is a great step for you to take if it is difficult for you to find
time to read. The goal for the year is to begin a regular pattern of taking the
Bible into your life. Yes, it is most natural to read it yourself, but I understand
that sometimes we find it hard to sit down and read. I am not going to guilt
trip you for everything else you have time to read, whether for work, school,
social media, etc…well, at least, not directly! My purpose is to encourage you
in adopting new ways of engaging with God so that you will grow and so that you
will find success in your discipleship goals you have set.
Another way to see this is in the context of how most of
Jesus’ peers and contemporaries relied on the hearing of Scripture for understanding.
See, we have a God who speaks. He spoke to us and gave us His Word. That was
most of what last week covered. But in ancient Palestine, hearing was
understanding. That is why Jesus repeatedly asks people, “Have you not heard…?”
and then quotes Scripture for them. Kent Hughes notes in his book on spiritual
disciplines that where Psalm 40:6 reads “you open my ears to listen” (CSB)[2],
the Hebrew “literally says ‘ears you have dug for me’…[God] takes a pick and
shovel and mines through the sides of the ‘cranial granite,’ making openings
through which His Word can pass to the mind and heart…The words of Scripture
are not merely to be read but to be heard.
They are meant to go to the heart!”[3]
How do you begin to take in the Word of God audibly, by
hearing it? Three major avenues that you can take as you develop this
discipline:
- Within the local church. I love what Don Whitney says
about the church and this discipline: “For most of us, disciplining ourselves
to hear God’s Word means developing the practice of steadfastly attending a New
Testament church where the Word of God is faithfully preached.”[4]
This seems obvious, but unfortunately is not the case in some churches. Our goal
at FBC Fairburn and my commitment to you is that when teaching is taking place,
the Bible is read aloud and Scripture is central to what is being taught. This
is in the worship service, the Sunday School class, the discipleship groups, and
the various divided ministries we offer (men, women, youth, kids, Hispanic,
etc). If you are not part of a Sunday morning discipleship group, you are
missing a great connection to others and to hearing the Word of God. If you are in the Fairburn/South Fulton area, we would love for you to join us for worship and Bible study.
- On the go. Yep, we are transient. Meaning, we are passing through a lot of places all at once. It is part of western culture, but also part of living on the outskirts of Atlanta. You and I have places to be and we all have to be there 10 minutes ago! I would encourage you to check out a Bible on CD that you can pop in the car CD player and listen to passages of Scripture read to you. Another great option is a good Bible app on your smartphone or tablet. Biblegateway.com has a great resource app that has many translations of the Bible ready for you to hear. The Gideons International also has a similar app that carries many languages. You are never more than 6 inches away from being able to hear the Word of God!
- In a disciple making partnership. Okay, I will admit that if you are struggling to find time to read the Bible yourself, you probably aren’t jumping into this one right away. After all, everyone knows that when you get into a disciple making partnership or find an accountability partner, you are entering the Olympic training of the Christian life! Actually, not really. All you are doing is being real with the fact that you and I need help and God provides other men and women of faith to journey with us. Here is a simple place to start…in your home! Husbands and wives taking turns each day to read a passage of Scripture aloud to the other over breakfast…or, more realistically, while rushing to get the kids ready and scarfing down a pop tart. Parents teaching their kids to read by taking Scripture passages. The purpose is godliness in hearing the Word!
The reality is that I know you can do this. Whitney is
right, hearing the Bible is the easiest way to take the Bible into our lives.
But, let me leave you with this note from Dr. Whitney on hearing: “Jesus once
said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it’ (Luke
11:28). Merely listening to God-inspired words is not the point. The purpose of
all methods of Bible intake is obedience to what God says and the development
of Christlikeness.”[5]
Give the Word of God an entry point into your life. You don’t
have to be perfect or perfectly understand. Just take a month to hear His Word.
As you hear it, apply it the best you know how. We have a staff ready to assist
you take the Word of God to heart. I am looking forward to what God will do in your
life as you embrace His Word.
See you Sunday!
[1]
Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for
the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, CO: Navigators Press, 1991), 29.
Italics in original.
[2]
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard
Bible®,
Copyright ©2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian
Standard Bible ® and CSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible publishers.
[3] R.
Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man,
rev. ed. (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2001), 85. Italics in original.
[4]
Whitney, 29.
[5]
Ibid, 29.
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Hey! I want to hear from you. Let's bridge dialogue as followers of Christ and not followers of the world. I am eager to see how we can grow together!