Who Are You Listening To?
Try asking anyone to articulate their views COVID-19 and on this shutdown we’re all experiencing. I suspect that within a minute you could probably tell what cable news stations, radio talk shows or podcasters have their ears.
Most of us have become experts on the virus issues because most of the experts don’t seem to know any more than we do. Yet we’re convinced we know… because of who we are listening to.
Who are you listening to?
King Solomon had some ideas on who and what to NOT listen to:
Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you - for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (NIV)
Here is King Solomon’s main point: Don’t listen to everything people say.
“Don't listen to everything that everyone says…” Ecclesiastes 7:21 (CEV)
“Do not take to heart everything people say…” Ecclesiastes 7:21 (NKJV)
“Do not give heed to everything that is said…” Ecclesiastes 7:21 (TAV)
Solomon tells us not to listen to everything that everyone says. We get ourselves in trouble when we believe everything we hear or we put too much stock in the wrong things.
A German psychologist says that women talk more than men because they have a bigger vocabulary. But, it evens out because men only listen half the time.
Jay Leno
When Lori and I got ready to leave the first church we had started to plant another church in the Bay Area, we were very careful with the handoff. We had been there for eight years and the church was like “our baby.” We felt the leadership team was solid; we felt so comfortable with everyone on that team that we announced we would have left our kids to them if we passed on. The best leader on the team was a man we’ll call Mike. Mike had been groomed to take over the church and he was ready - we were really comfortable with him. So we brought in an interim pastor, moved out here to NoCal, and expected Mike to become the next pastor. But about eight months later Mike called me and asked if we could get together. I went out to Colorado and met with Mike. He wasn’t the new pastor of the church. In fact, he had stopped attending that church. He explained what happened: Mike came to a leaders meeting a bit late and when he walked in he could hear the other leaders talking (we had bought an old church building that had paper-thin office walls. That lack of confidentiality hurt us on several occasions). Anyway, Mike heard them talking and venting about how they were leaders too and why should he be the new pastor and not one of them? Mike told me he couldn’t deal with that - he left, resigned his leadership position, and felt that he just couldn’t stay in that church. I was always grieved and puzzled about that incident. That church lost its best leader. But this passage explains what happened: Mike listened to everything people said.
Don't believe everything you think. - Wayne Dyer
Don’t believe everything you hear either.
Consider carefully how you listen. - Luke 8:18
Three old guys out walking.
First one says. "Windy isn't it? "
Second one says, "No it’s Thursday!”
Third one says. "So am I. Let’s go get a beer.”
Here’s some similar ideas from Solomon on what NOT to listen to:
Don’t listen to venting
What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it? You've done that a few times, haven't you—said things Behind someone's back you wouldn't say to his face? - Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (TMV)
A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. - Proverbs 29:11
If all men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world. - Blaise Pascal
Don’t listen to gossip
A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. - Proverbs 20:19 (NIV)
A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers. - Proverbs 20:19 (NLT)
It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people's business. - Dolley Madison
R.G. LeTourneau named one of his bulldozers “The Big G” because that machine is like gossip - it moves dirt quicker than any other machine.
Don’t listen to lies
A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue. - Proverbs 17:5
A false witness will perish, and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever. - Proverbs 21:28
If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked. - Proverbs 29:12
If you believe a lie, you're the one that will suffer the consequences, so accept responsibility for what you believe. - Steve May
Don’t listen to fools
It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. - Ecclesiastes 7:5
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. - John 9:31
Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. - 2 Timothy 2:14
A righteous man is cautious in friendship. - Proverbs 12:26
Don’t listen to false teachers
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying lies to you….Then I said to the priests and all these people, "This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, 'Very soon now the articles from the LORD's house will be brought back from Babylon.' They are prophesying lies to you. - Proverbs 27:14 & 16
Don't you know by now that I am not talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees! Finally, the disciples understood that Jesus wasn't talking about the yeast used to make bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Matthew 16:11-12 (CEV)
Jesus compared the teaching of others to yeast (or, in some translations) leaven. Yeast makes bread rise before baking; it was used then much the same way it is used today. But their only method for reproducing yeast was to save a small piece of unbaked dough from the previous batch of bread, which they used as a "starter" for their next batch. Since a small amount of yeast was able to cause a large amount of dough to rise, the term was often figuratively to represent any sort of influence.
When Moses led the Israelites out of the slavery of Egypt, God instructed them not to take any leavened bread with them. This symbolized a reminder to them that they were not to take the influence of pagan Egypt with them into the Promise Land.
Just as a little bit of yeast can make a large amount of dough to rise, a "little bit" of teaching can have a big influence on your life. One simple statement taken as truth can influence a lifetime of behavior.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1
Don’t listen to flattery
In the end people appreciate frankness more than flattery. - Proverbs 28:23 (NLT)
Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. - Romans 12:9a (The Message Version)
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. - Romans 16:18
Don’t listen to detractors
"Doctor!" said the woman as she loudly bounced into the room, "I want you to tell me very frankly what's wrong with me." He surveyed her from head to foot. "Madam," he said, "I've just three things to tell you. "First, you are morbidly obese. You need to drop at least thirty pounds. Second, lose the make-up. You should use about half as much rouge and lipstick. And third, I'm a lawyer - the doctor's office is on the next floor."
He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. - Mark 8:32-33