Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. I Timothy 4:12 MSG
Remember recess when you were a kid. Everyone raced to the playground, ready to choose sides for whatever game was on tap for the day. Captains were chosen or they appointed themselves, and then the chanting began….”Me, Me! Pick me!” Every kid wanted to be the first chosen because that somehow elevated their self-esteem, and the other kids had all been put on notice that they were not the best player and needed to work harder to achieve that honor. That would seem archaic by today’s rules, and yet, don’t we still tend to live in a “ME first” culture?
Our world seems to be one of “culture wars,” and many of the clashes between opposing ideas are so aggressive that we find ourselves in an atmosphere that is not conducive to the development of a positive culture. Today’s chants are still of the “me first” variety, but on a larger scale than those from my youth. Our news stories would depict us as a nation of “mob rule.” The person or group who makes the most noise is the one who controls the direction we will all go. Whatever happened to good, honest debate, to respect for authority, and pulling together to create a healthy environment for all? Whatever happened to the art of listening?
God gave me two ears and one mouth for a good reason.
Jeannie Blackmer, Mornings with Jesus, 2025
It’s natural to want to share our thoughts and opinions, but it’s important to realize that others want to do the same. If we take the time to really hear each other, everything else falls into place. That theory is exemplified in our home by a very simple fact of aging. Ken has a hearing loss that began in the military while working among loud diesel engines. Today, he wears high-tech hearing aids, but they don’t quite replace the hearing God gave him at birth. When I speak to him without considering my proximity to him, he often hears a word incorrectly, and once it becomes engraved in his brain, he can’t easily replace it with the correct word, and our communication suffers. Then I remember to face him so he can watch my mouth, and I replace that word that he has heard incorrectly with something different, and the understanding is instant. His audiologist explained that the problem is more of an understanding issue than one of hearing. He hears me speak, but he can’t discern what I say because it becomes garbled, and the message that is sent to his brain is totally different from what I said.
Conversely, when Ken is speaking, I often become impatient for him to finish and try to complete his sentence for him. I really believe I know just what he is going to say, and I’m very often wrong. I need to stop being just plain rude and listen patiently to what he is trying to tell me. He’s a pretty smart guy and typically has a much better way of approaching ideas or issues than I do. We work much better as a team. These simple practices of listening and really hearing each other, along with exercising copious amounts of patience, can go a long way toward creating a positive culture, one in which we can flourish as a people. We can’t just continue to go our own way and do our own thing. There are always others around us to consider.
When you do what you want and I do what I want and no one gives a [care] as to what God wants, humanity implodes. The infection of the person leads to the corruption of the populace….extract God, expect earthly chaos, and, many times worse, expect eternal misery. Max Lucado, Come Thirsty
Each of us is a single and very individual ingredient that, when stirred together, creates a healthy and vibrant whole in which we can flourish as a people of God. Next time your “ME first” attitude starts to kick in, quiet that tongue and engage your ears. You may be very surprised at the positive response you receive from the crowd around you.
