Jesus' Approach Part 2

We are living in a time when we want to win the argument more than we want to dialog with others.  We want to talk more than we want to listen.

Jesus was the opposite of that. Even though He was all-knowing, He dialoged with people and listened to them and connected with them.

Jesus listened to what others had to say.

Jesus was a good listener. We see in scripture Jesus again and again listening to what people had to say before He began to teach them.

In John 3 Nicodemus comes to Jesus and Jesus lets him talk and ask questions before He shares with him about being born again.

In Luke 9 Jesus sends the Twelve and tells them that as they are out ministering, they are to depend on Him and only Him. When the Twelve return they excitingly share with Jesus all that went on and Jesus listens and then takes them with Him as He feeds the five thousand.

We will not be of much use in fulfilling Jesus’ mission unless we learn to be good listeners.

#1: Part of our mission is helping people and one way to help people is to listen to them. God gave us two ears and one mouth. I think that is an indication that we are to listen more than we are to talk.

#2: Unless we let people have their say, they will not listen to us. If they don’t listen, they can never hear the truth and give themselves to Jesus.

#3: We can’t learn where people are or what they believe and think unless we listen.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is God’s people, the church, listening before they speak.

Jesus sought the root of people’s problems.

Jesus never glossed over the surface of people’s lives. He also did not assume that what appeared to be their need was, in fact, their real need.

In Mark 2 Jesus is teaching in a house when four men bring a friend who is a paralytic to be healed by Jesus. In verse 5 it says, “And when Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”

Jesus later heals the man and the man walks away. Jesus saw the deeper need of the man was for forgiveness of sin and so He addressed that need first. Jesus knows our needs and He always addresses the deeper needs first.

As God’s people we have to listen to people and allow God to enable us to see the real needs and empower us to deal with those, as well as their perceived needs.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to empower us to meet people’s perceived needs so that we can deal with their real needs.

Jesus took people’s questions seriously.

As Jesus listened to people and saw their deeper real needs, He listened to their questions and took what they were asking seriously.

In John 4 Jesus has an encounter with a woman at a well in a Samaritan village. He took all of the woman’s questions seriously and used them to share with her, and later the whole village, the gospel.

In Luke 10 a lawyer asks Jesus about eternal life and Jesus listens and answers the man. When the lawyer then asks a question that was simply meant to try to get out of fulfilling what Jesus said, Jesus still takes the question seriously and shares the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus took people’s questions seriously and answered them and used the questions as an opportunity to share the truth of the gospel with them.

We as God’s people cannot dismiss people’s question even if those questions are not asked in sincerity. We can use the opportunity to share the truth and let the Holy Spirit empower what we say to transform lives.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being open and honest and taking all questions that people ask seriously.

We as the church have a chance to be holy and different than our culture. We can be holy listeners. We can in love listen and dialog with people and honestly share with truth of God’s gospel of grace.

For the Love of Jesus and People,

 Raising the Roof  and Removing the Walls,

                                                    Joe