Listen

Listen
November 12, 2005

Dear *****,

Please forgive me for being so remiss in getting this to you!

A while back you mentioned in Sunday school about a fellow down the street. You said he dutifully went to church with his wife, that he was an intelligent engineer who has done a lot of reading about Christianity, but just couldn’t accept the idea. You also said that he liked to discuss it with you but that you couldn’t convince him.

I was that guy once; until somebody invited me to listen to the sermons.

I think I can tell you several things about your friend…
• There is a longing in his heart. He would not be searching so hard otherwise.
• There is a fear too. That accepting Christ will require him to reject parts of his life. (This is true, but not the parts he thinks. Logic is OK.)
• He listens very intently to the sermons but weighs each statement against his own “internal model” continuously throughout the sermon.
• He suspects Christianity is a crutch people use when things aren’t going well.
• He’s very logically trying to determine the validity of Christianity.

And there is the rub; Christianity is outside of logic. Not illogical, just something bigger than logic. There is no way your friend will ever be able to prove logically anything about Christianity, one way or the other.

I was at that point when a friend asked me to try an experiment. It was actually two experiments that go hand in hand. The first is when going to church, listen to the sermon. Not critically or point-by-point, but empty your head of all expectations and objectives. Just listen to the “message,” in its entirety as if it was being delivered to you. The second experiment is to assume, or hypothesize, that the message of Christianity is real. Again, let down the defenses, the rationalizations, the fears. This is a different kind of experiment; you are in it, not just observing. After all, the point is, “How does the hypothesis affect me?” Live, for a time, listening, watching, expecting, and searching for Christ. Don’t be judgmental. Don’t weigh it against what you think should happen. It’s very much like brainstorming where you can’t judge the ideas as you go. After a substantial period of time (a month?), look back and gauge how you experienced Christ’s presence and how others around you experienced Him. Ask others how they have experienced you.

That’s how I found Christ, or I should say how someone taught me to open the door for me to meet Christ.

Hope that helps *****. I have faith it will. It’s hard to remember something so long ago. The hymn “Amazing Grace” talks about the “hour I first believed.” Sometimes I think He wants us to remember the hour before that; so we can help others.

In my prayers,