Blog

by Nathan Buck

There are so many times I remember being with my dad in the car and he would have the AM car radio news station WHP 580. To this day, I can remember the call sign and hearing news stories drone on and on. I could hear the words, and occasionally I could pick out a tidbit or two that I understood, especially if Paul Harvey came on with “The Rest of the Story.” Most of the time, I was just bored with the blah, blah, blah.

I was reminded of those moments the other day, as I drove down the road listening to a podcast regarding the latest news. I was riveted to every detail and laughing at the sarcasm of the commentary. Then it dawned on me: I finally get why Dad enjoyed the news. Because I understand more about the world, I am more interested, aware, and able to understand the implications of political and government decisions. I not only hear the news; now I understand the news.

Read Matthew 15:12-14. When Jesus challenged the Pharisees and those gathered around and listening, he says, “hear and understand” – “akouo syniemi" – which carries the idea of listening with the intention to obey or put into practice what you hear. To do that, you must make sure you are clearly understanding and gaining the knowledge so you can put it into practice. Jesus then explains to his disciples that the Pharisees had become so concerned about not breaking the law, that they forgot how to keep the law. He calls them “blind guides.”

So, let’s pause and ask ourselves: who are the blind guides I am following? Are they on your Twitter feed, Facebook, the news, the radio, etc.? Are you listening to people in order to put into practice what they are saying? Is what they are saying able to be put into practice? What would be the risks, gains, and losses be for doing what they say?

Are these people striving to honor God and demonstrate His character, or are they arguing about whether there is a God, or whether there is a right way? For example, have you noticed there is a lot of labeling of what is racist being thrown around, but very few people are talking about or demonstrating how to live in unity, at peace, with humble respect for one another? When we are OFF COURSE, we LOSE SIGHT of what is TRUE (and so does anyone following us).

As we drift off course, it actually becomes harder and harder for us to demonstrate what is good and easier and easier to just talk about it. Most people arguing on Facebook today about racism in America probably do not have the guts to do what it takes to really solve the problem. They want to argue passionately, name call, virtue signal, and make lots of noise but not do the one thing most needed to end the division amongst us: fall to their knees, fast, and pray, seeking God’s mercy and demonstrating that it is not the rebalancing of our own power that will solve the problem, but it is the humility for us to surrender our control to God's power and love one another the way He does.

Why don’t we HEAR and UNDERSTAND God in a way that we can obey Him? Perhaps because we are too busy trying to figure out how we can live the way we want to, get by under the radar, and not get zapped for stepping out of line. Or maybe we are just too confident of our own opinion and unwilling to consider that we may have missed the point, so we do not HEAR and we do not UNDERSTAND what God is saying to us. 

Look at the next verses, Matthew 15:15-20. The disciples had the same problem. They had listened so long to the horizontal conversations and parables of do’s and don’ts from the Pharisees that they didn’t get what Jesus was saying. They missed God’s purpose in His commands, because the Pharisees didn’t teach how to live the command well, they just taught how to avoid breaking it.

Where are you tuning God out because you have a hard time, or are unwilling, to hear and understand Him? Is it worth the risk to hope that the horizontal conversations around us will come up with beneficial solutions, when God already has the solution? God sees the end from the beginning, and His Word is perfectly designed to lead us on the right path. Perhaps you have some maturing to do, like I did when I was a kid and didn’t get all the news radio stuff. Perhaps, you just need to take some time and learn some basic context of the Bible so you can better understand. Perhaps you just need to tune out the horizontal long enough to hear God. Whatever is making it hard for you to HEAR and UNDERSTAND, are you will to lay it aside and make the effort?

God wants to lead us in the right direction and get our eyes off just being comfortable, safe, or out of trouble. He wants us to grow and thrive. We can do that if we tune in to His Word and let Him be the first voice we consider in every situation.

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