Listening to the Community: Day 4

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” – James 1:19

Discipline is a difficult habit to maintain, especially when it comes to engaging in conversation with others. Our approach to dialogue with one another should be handled with great caution and care. Every single person on the planet needs to understand that the way we talk to one another has consequences, for good and evil. Therefore, we must understand this (especially when engaging with the community around us) that we should be disciplined in our dialogue.

Just open up your social media feed and observe how we talk to one another. If only everyone could put a 24-hour buffer on every post, the world might be a better place. What does that look like? James helps us out here. We must be both fast and slow. But these must be put into proper context. There are circumstances in which being fast is a good thing, like responding in time of emergency. However, there are also times when being fast is a bad thing, like speeding down the highway (yeah…I went there). There are times when slowness is bad (like the DMV) and other times in which it is good, such as a major surgery.

When it comes to our dialogue with one another, though, we must be quick to listen to one another. Why? Learning and growth take time. It need not be rushed. Speaking is secondary to listening, and to learning about one another. And then anger should lag….way…behind.

Regarding the community in which we live, which is most assuredly lost, we must slow our pace and listen. Listen to understand. Listen to learn. Listen to grow. Why? In order to know them. In order to meet their needs. In order to show them that you care. And once you have succeeded in this task, then you can speak truth into their lives.

We long to make a lasting impact on our community, and we can accomplish the task effectively. It has to start with this truth found in James. The understanding that we must listen first and once we understand them, we can then speak life.

-Derek Allen
Pastor: Baring Cross Baptist Church, Sherwood