Humble Listening

Just because something is said with the wrong attitude doesn't mean it's wrong information. A mistake I have made too often is to respond to pride with pride. There have been too many times when my goal was to bite my tongue and remain calm. Listening to find truth in their statements required another level of humility I didn't have.

I'm always amused and impressed when I read this story about David:

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.

2 Samuel 16:9-13

Picture King David marching with his army. A fool comes along, throwing rocks at him and cursing him. When David's soldier asks if he can chop off the guy's head, David says to leave him alone. His reasoning? David was open to the possibility this man was sent from God! So he patiently endured the cursing, just in case it really was a message from God.

To be honest, I am rarely able to listen to proud people. I typically get defensive, combative, or sarcastic. However, there have been a few times recently, when by the grace of God, I have been able to listen for truth while being disrespected. There have even been a couple times when I have thanked an unreasonable critic for showing me my sin. It's amazing how quickly humility can diffuse a tense situation. This is not to say that we should condone angry criticism. But as leaders, we need to set an example of humility and avoid the trap of becoming hypocritical. That will only add fuel to their fire.

The above comes from Francis Chan's book, Letters to the Church. I share it because it reflects my own sentiments. Sometimes people are critical of us because they are jealous of us (for whatever reasons). Maybe they are jealous of the gifts and abilities God has given us while they appear to have been left empty vessels by God. Trust me when I say that it is difficult to listen to critics, especially when they do not have a clue what in the world they are talking about. I have experienced more than my fair share of these types of people both with regard to my art work as well as my faith. Imagine someone who can only draw stick people criticizing the work of Michaelangelo or Da Vinci (and I am not comparing myself to either of these great painters, or even attempting to put myself in league with them). Criticism is much easier to receive and digest coming from someone who knows what they are talking about. Not to mention, constructive criticism is much more easier to accept than deconstructive criticism.

Let's be honest. We all struggle with an element of pride. It is part of our fallen human nature. There is nothing wrong with being proud of our accomplishments, but it needs to be a humble pride. For example, if I published a single book and then thought so highly of myself to be of Stephen King fame. That is arrogant pride. Humble pride is being proud of your accomplishment without thinking higher of yourself than you ought. I have published 20+ books and still do not feel any more special than when I published my first book. Even if I published 100 books, it would not mean a thing. I am not after quantity, but quality. The quality of my work is what I care about. With every book I published, my goal is to expose lies and errors and reveal the truth, even if it is not to most people's liking. The truth is the truth whether people like it or not.

We all desire more humility, to be able to listen to those know-nothing critics and be able to search for a nugget of truth within their ramblings that we can apply to our lives in order to make us more like Christ. Trust me, I know how difficult it can be at times. God willing, even the irrational criticisms might make us better Christians.