There is story told of Franklin Roosevelt.  He often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir.” It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”

It really is shocking how much and how well people actually listen.  Unfortunately, listening is rarely a top priority.  However, when we are going through some very difficult times and we really need someone to talk to, who is the person typically contacted?  Most of the time, it is the one person who we know is a good listener (whether we realize we think about them in this way or not).  Listening is truly an important skill.  Here are 3 specific levels of listening we should focus and improve on.

Level 1: Listen for Yourself.  Listening is probably the most fundamental way of gaining knowledge and bettering ourselves.  Proverbs 13:1 says, “A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. ”  Proverbs 15:32 explains, “He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.”  If we do not take the time to listen to instruction and take the advice people give us (within reason), we could be equal to the “scoffer who does not listen.”  Every significant leader in the church did not become great by ignoring advice but by listening to wise men and instruction.  There is so much valuable information out there but sometimes we have to close our “noise maker” and humble ourselves to hear it.  We will improve ourselves if we listen for the purpose of improvement.

Level 2: Listen to Others.  The “Golden Rule” applies to listening just as much as any other subject (Matthew 7:12).  I think we all can name a situation when we had something very important to say and then in the middle of the sentence, the we are talking to person either walks away, talks to someone else, does not even acknowledging we are speaking (because they aren’t listening), or simply interrupts with something else.  On the flip end, I think most of us can say we have been on the opposite end and did not listen to someone else, whether it was intentional or not.  As Christians, listening is a vital part of our ministry and bringing others to Christ.  In chapel a few weeks ago, James Piffner made a great point: Even if we deliver the best lesson, sermon, Bible study, etc we have ever done, but we do not know who the target is because we did not listen to him/her, then we are going to miss the target completely, and definitely miss the part we are really aiming for…the heart.  We want others to listen to us, how much more so should we be willing to listen to others?  Whether it is to the lady in the grocery store, a potential convert, a sibling, a husband or wife, a struggling Christian, or whoever, listening to them is important.  We cannot possibly hope to be effective if we are not willing to listen to others.

Level 3: Listen to God.  This is easily the most important level of listening.  There are plenty of people in the world who listen for themselves, and are great listeners to others (probably better than many of us in some cases), but they do not listen to God and therefore are lost.  I do not think I would like to see God’s reaction if He was trying to tell me something important and I just walked off, talked to someone else, and completely ignore Him to His face (however, Sodom, Gomorrah, Ananias, Sapphira, Nadab, Abihu, and others begin flashing in my head).  The problem is, when we do not obey God’s commands in the Bible, we begin doing just that…we begin ignoring God.  It is impossible to ignore God and still find favor in His sight at the end of time.  No matter how good listeners we have become to God, there is always room for improvement.  Above all, we must be good listeners to God’s Word.

We all know and love the childhood story of Dumbo.  Dumbo is known for having very large ears, but great thing about them was that he was able to use them to fly.  Listening (1) for ourselves, (2) to others, and (3) to God (aka – how big our ears are) could play a major role in achieving our final flight into heaven.  Let’s focus on being better listeners in order to improve ourselves, improve our connection and influence with others, as well as improve our relationship with the Lord.  So, when it comes to listening for yourself, listening to other, and listening to God, how big are your ears?

–Brett Petrillo