"So while you're outside looking in,
Describing what you see,
Remember what you're staring at is me."
In evangelism and in personal relationships, unfortunately, we've fallen into the trap of seeing people as cases. I am guilty of this more than any other person on the planet. Being at a Bible Institute my head is spinning with all of the information that's being thrown my way, and that's what comes to mind whenever I hear someone talk about anything. Instead of listening I'm going over my notes in my head from class so I can quote them word for word. It's a pride thing most definitely. I was talking to someone the other night about the confession that we're supposed to make and they said that it's not confessing Jesus as Lord over our lives, and instead it is we confess that Jesus is the Son of God. They were turning through their Bibles looking for a supporting verse and they turned to Romans 10:9-10 where we see that the confession is confessing Jesus as Lord with our mouths. All I saw was that they were in Romans 10, and I didn't realize what they were looking at, so I asked, "What does Romans 10 say?" They got really offended and called me condescending. Honestly, I had no idea what they were looking at until I read the passage they were in. The point is, whether or not we're right, wrong, meaning to be condescending or not, we need to be patient in waiting for others to speak, instead of forcing people to be on the defense or to be totally offended. I pray that you all will be praying for me in this.
Describing what you see,
Remember what you're staring at is me."
In evangelism and in personal relationships, unfortunately, we've fallen into the trap of seeing people as cases. I am guilty of this more than any other person on the planet. Being at a Bible Institute my head is spinning with all of the information that's being thrown my way, and that's what comes to mind whenever I hear someone talk about anything. Instead of listening I'm going over my notes in my head from class so I can quote them word for word. It's a pride thing most definitely. I was talking to someone the other night about the confession that we're supposed to make and they said that it's not confessing Jesus as Lord over our lives, and instead it is we confess that Jesus is the Son of God. They were turning through their Bibles looking for a supporting verse and they turned to Romans 10:9-10 where we see that the confession is confessing Jesus as Lord with our mouths. All I saw was that they were in Romans 10, and I didn't realize what they were looking at, so I asked, "What does Romans 10 say?" They got really offended and called me condescending. Honestly, I had no idea what they were looking at until I read the passage they were in. The point is, whether or not we're right, wrong, meaning to be condescending or not, we need to be patient in waiting for others to speak, instead of forcing people to be on the defense or to be totally offended. I pray that you all will be praying for me in this.
1 comment:
You are absolutely right Chuck! While I hate to admit it...there are times I have found myself simply waiting for a pause in what the person is saying so that I can make my next point! How egotistical is that!!! If we really want to make a difference with people, we have to be willing to listen to them. A great example is Jesus with the Samaritan women at the well in John 4. He listened. He kept bringing her back to what was important, but He listened.
Overall, we need to be less impressed with the sound of our own voice!
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