Spiritual Earplugs
Do you like it when somebody else tells you what to do? How do you respond when others tell you that you are wrong? I don’t think any of us like a steady diet of directions and objections. But in reality, that’s exactly what we need.
I remember years ago working with a church that had a group of elders who would do a yearly evaluation of the ministers. One of the things those elders told us prior to the meetings was that some of the things they were going to say to us were not going to be very easy for us to hear. I also recall from time to time these men sitting me down individually and correcting me whenever they thought my activities or my character were not as they should be. In my youth and inexperience, I would occasionally leave these meetings a little bit angry and self-excusing. I was such a fool!
In Acts 7:57, after Stephen the evangelist had been preaching to the Sanhedrin, they reacted with rage, even shouting and stopping up their ears as they ran at him and shut him down. A few minutes later Stephen was dead. The mob had stoned him. I can’t help but think that if what Stephen had been saying was just his opinion and not the absolute truth – he wouldn’t have incited such fury and punishment from the people he was trying to convert. They just couldn’t handle it.
We all get angry sometimes when we are told something we don’t want to hear. For each of us, it may be different. Some people might not want to hear about the dangers of smoking and drinking. Some might not want to be told that they shouldn’t miss the worship assembly. Some might stop their ears to the truth about the dangers of lust. Some might not want to be obligated to evangelism and service. Still, others might not want to be told to take care of their bodies both physically and spiritually, since their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
When you think about it, there really could be an endless list of suggestions concerning our activities that would lead us to insert spiritual earplugs. I haven’t met a person yet who wasn’t sensitive about something. But that’s part of the whole purpose to preaching, and counseling, and being evaluated, whether the source of the criticism is us or someone else. It is where our sensitivities lie that we need the most for God to work on us. Strengths may aid us in bearing fruit for God’s kingdom, but our weaknesses may eventually rotten whatever good things the very best of us can produce.
The next time you read a verse from God’s word that is tough for you to swallow, or the next time you are met with some person saying that your actions are imperfect or need changing, ask yourself if your ears are clear. Consider whether the challenge to your behavior is valid. Make sure that you are sober-minded and capable of enough humility to consider the truth of the matter at hand.
I don’t want to run at God with my mouth open and my ears shut. I don’t want to have the reputation of being a person who is a fool and who can’t take criticism or learn how to be better every day.
There were some men in the crowd who stoned Stephen for telling the truth. There were others, called “devout men” – and they wept loudly and bitterly concerning his death. The difference between the first group and the second group is an eternal difference.
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” – James 1:19-20.
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
