I am concerned we’ve stopped listening to Him. I’m immersed in a situation, just as you are, where I’m witnessing folks, especially leaders lose their way. Some of this is literal, while other portions are metaphorical. But I assure you we’re either in this situation together, or we’ll soon be joining one another.
Jeremiah 16:12 – You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.
Does Scripture apply to followers, or leaders, or both?
Jeremiah 32:33 – They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline.
It appears as if we aren’t listening, not only witnessed by the trajectory of our worlds but also the trajectory of our churches and without a doubt the trajectory of our singular relationships with Christ. If you can make a convincing case otherwise, you’d successfully have qualified yourself as a liar. That too isn’t a struggle these days.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 – I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Patience and instruction, huh? Sounds hard. Maybe even thankless. Are we doing that? I believe we THINK we are, but I’d argue we miss the mark far more often than hitting a bullseye. Are we pleasing our listeners, or giving them foundational footholds so they may continue OUTSIDE our temporal presence? Are we pleasing ourselves with our particular brand of guidance, or are we equipping others to Glorify Him when we’re not there to direct or train them? If the answer to these isn’t a resounding NO, then plan on the myths entering immediately. In essence, we’re offering items or activities of temporal significance, and not those of eternal significance.
All this brings me to something quite simple. Are the leaders offering the words, but doing so in hollow? I believe that is happening. If we provide the words but don’t offer what is happening, we have skipped the context, which is vital. But… When offering the words, we must first, as leaders, commune with the Lord on WHY each of us with an idiomatic microphone is doing what we are. Who do we seek to serve? And if no one came to listen, would we still offer the same message with the same enthusiasm? I hope so. Because He’s listening and ultimately Who we seek to serve, not the fleshy who surround us… AM I LISTENING?
Proverbs 29:19 – A slave will not be instructed by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no response.
Who among us are the slaves and the instructors? What meaning and purpose are conveyed with the words? Why are they important? Are these words offered to you from a stage 1 hour a week as a lecture, recital, or entertainment, or are you trained to gather the words for yourself the other 167 hours of the same week – how have you been equipped for the Christian walk outside the walls where you meet weekly?
If we are to be salt and light – if we are to preserve and offer preservation to others in recognizable ways, these questions should be prayed upon, then asked and answered.
