Listen to Me!

Have we as leaders ever wondered why we as leaders say things like, “Now, listen to me, this is important.”? If you don’t say that or haven’t said that before then you probably are not nor have ever been a public speaker. How many countless variations are there on this theme? “If you hear nothing else, then hear this one thing,” and “Are you listening, are you awake…”

How silly is it for us to say, “Are you awake?” First, if you have to ask that question then you already know the terrible answer. Second, why can’t they stay awake? Are you that terrible of a teacher or preacher or speaker? I know – here come the standard answers like, “Well, Bob just isn’t spiritual, he just comes to church,” or, “Sally stayed up late last night and…” or, “They just can’t stay awake when they slow down because all Tom does is go, go, go all day long.”

These excuses are pretty bad and should never really be offered for: Bob needs to be knocked off his rocker in a one on one “where are you at with God” session; Sally needs to get her bottom in bed so she can be awake for God; and, Tom needs to stop making excuses or slow down because we are all busy. Christian Leaders (and brothers and sisters in the Lord) allow Bob, Sally and Tom to be gypped out of a great life because “it just isn’t our business to butt in.” Christians gladly explain away the lack of attention and the sleepiness of their peers because they don’t want the conflict and trouble of really praying for and helping them find passion in Christ.

Worse though is most Christian Leaders stink when it comes to teaching and speaking. They deliver well prepared and typed lectures that really are informative but not soul moving. They speak in stupid false voices and modulate their tone to try to gain attention rather than actually having passion or something interesting to say. These speakers have replaced emotion, the move of the Spirit and Godly spontaneity with acting, scripts, perfect timing and personal rabbit chasing. Though they still long to do God’s work their most immediate question is “How did the people like it?”

Christian Leaders need to speak the language of the people – in fact, there was once a day when they spoke the language of the follower. Leaders don’t need to try to impress the masses but to communicate important messages to them. Did we ever think that the reason people are sleeping is that we are not saying anything of value to them or of value to God that wants to wake them up?

I just can’t recall Jesus having a hard time keeping people’s attention when he spoke and worked. He had no fancy worship centers, no lights, no bands, no suits, no special chair but he knew what to say, when to say it, how to say it and why it was being said. He needed no tricks to draw people for His work came directly from the Father and it was genuine. He connected with and solved the problems of the followers. He spoke their language and condemned those who didn’t. He spoke their language so they would hear life changing words not so they would hail him as a great communicator.

I know, you really think that the people want to hear about the Hebrew meaning of “la la la” but Jesus called it vanity and pride to flaunt our knowledge. He simply turned what could be complicated into a simple message and wasn’t worried about impressing the Pharisees who demanded learnedness. The one who is impressed by how much you know and your life has been left hopelessly shallow by you as a teacher and guide. The only thing that matters is God and His very simple truths.

Leaders need to communicate a clear, valuable, timely message in a language that people understand. The words we speak should have content and satisfy or create a hunger. Our words need passion and compassion and a good dose of reality. Maybe then the people will wake up and we won’t have to tell them when we have something important to say.

We need to remember the simple message that filled us with passion.