not listening

Today in the One Year Bible, we read about Stephen getting stoned. This is in Acts, but not 4:20 like you'd imagine, rather in Acts 7:51-8:13. (I wonder how many of you will get that joke.)

Stephen is telling the religious leaders the truth, and they eventually LITERALLY cover up their ears and "began shouting". They basically did what the woman in the pic above is doing. And you know this look, because so many people today do it, too. They don't want to hear opposing viewpoints. They only want to hear what they've already decided is true about the world.

That's why I admonish you to listen. Listen to those who think differently than you. Maybe you can learn something from them. Or maybe, by listening, you can find the errors in their presuppositions and help them come to the truth. Either way, listening will bring you closer together.

As you know, our country (and the world) has become and is becoming terribly polarized. The media and the political systems WANT us to be polarized. They're like little kids that take two ants and put them in a cup and then shake it up to make them fight. They WANT us at each other's throats.

But let's resist that polarization. Let's love one another. Let's listen. Let's grow closer together, so that we can benefit from seeing things from another perspective.

God, thanks for teaching us to listen.