"I can't hear you while that gun is pointed at my head."

According Doug Pollock (Outreach, August, 2005 issue) as American forces moved through the city of Najah in April, 2003, rumors spread that the soldiers were going to desecrate a mosque. An angry crowd of Iraqi civilians gathered and bloodshed seemed imminent until the officer, Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes, barked terse commands to his soldiers. "Kneel, take a knee. Aim your weapon at the ground. Wave and smile!" Within moments the tensions lifted and the defiant crowd allowed the soldiers to pass. No blood was spilled that day because one officer was willing to take a risk by appearing less powerful, which in turn invited people feeling threatened to reconsider their belligerent pose.

I find it real hard to open a dialogue with a person who is threatening me with destruction! It's not like I've been held-up by street thugs, but too many times in life to count, people have decided that the best way to get my attention is to make me afraid - whether by yelling, threatening, or attacking. It works, but not as they hope. Why? Because when threatened, I immediately shrink into a defensive position. Emotionally, I am unable to hear what they are saying. As I reflect on this, it causes me to wonder how many times I've approached a situation in a similar manner, causing a break in communication because the other person is unable to see past my posture which they determine is threatening to their well-being? What might happen if I lowered the weapon of words?

As Christians with a message of Truth for our world, we sometimes exacerbate the 'spiritual deafness' by our shrill rhetoric, with our talk of Hell and damnation, and our insistence on the 'absolute truth!' Our words, may indeed be true enough, but the posture we adopt in delivering them, may be more of a problem than the message itself. For example, can a young woman hear our offers to help her cope with her unplanned pregnancy as long as we're labeling her a sinner or a baby-killer for considering abortion? Can a homosexual man living with confusion and shame hear that God loves him while we are talking about 'perverts' and making 'queer' jokes? For that matter can any person who is truly on the road to destruction hear our warning if we speak in a manner that they perceive as hostile? One old preacher said that if he could not preach about Hell with tears in his eyes, he would not speak of it at all. How wise!

Paul challenges us to be people who are capable of "speaking the truth in love," and He says this will cause us to "grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." Eph. 4.15 NIV Being able to be truthful, which is often offensive and disturbs the status quo, yet to be seen as loving - is a real challenge. Some conclude that we can be either loving or we can be truthful, but that we cannot be both. Yet, the Scripture challenges us differently. Jesus was Truth, all about telling the truth to the world in which He lived, yet He found a way to do so that was compelling to most people. They wanted to hear the truth about God, themselves, and life from Him for they perceived that He spoke ultimately with love. To be sure, some would not hear Him having determined He was a threat to them from the first. Those religious leaders perished in their obstinance.

Let me leave you with two questions today - one about your ability to hear, the other about your method of delivery.

- Are you capable of hearing the Truth from another, willing to lower your defenses to help dialogue to happen?
- Are you speaking, in love, in a way that considers the needs of the other person so that the message you bring is unhindered by a perceived threat?

The key that helps us to answer both of those questions affirmatively is to be secure in the Love of God.
_____________________

Lord, I come to You,
Let my heart be changed, renewed;
Flowing from the grace
That I've found in You;
And Lord, I've come to know,
The weaknesses I see in me,
Will be stripped away
By the pow'r of Your love.

Hold me close,
Let Your love surround me;
Bring me near,
Draw me to Your side;
And as I wait,
I'll rise up like the eagle,
And I will soar with You,
Your Spirit leads me on
In the pow'r of Your love.

Lord, unveil my eyes,
Let me see You face to face,
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me.
Lord, renew my mind,
As Your will unfolds in my life,
In living ev'ry day
In the pow'r of Your love.

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