Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” Luke 8:18

As a parent, there is a natural inclination to “teach” my three daughters. The trouble is; there’s also a natural (and often unknowing) inclination to teach them my way. For whatever reason, we all seek methods of comfort and stick to them no matter what. It works and that’s all that matters – so we think.

But I’m unwittingly telling them to “think how I think” instead of letting them experience it themselves. I fear this closes their minds to any way of thinking that is different than my own. They sadly miss out on a lot because of that.

But then there are also times when we people (myself very much included) get so caught up in ourselves that we make it all about us. When that’s the case, we tend not to hear. The misfortune there is that we deprive ourselves.

Too often, we make boisterous claims that challenge the preacher’s style; i.e. The preacher “does sermons that don’t speak to me,” “needs to be more relational,” “should try to focus more on [enter the buzz phrase of the day here],” “should be more like [enter popular preacher here].”

But consider this the next time you think such thoughts during a sermon – a time in which you are to be in worship of our Lord and savior: Are you interrupting the message? Remember, it is delivered by God through your preacher – a conduit for the Lord’s message. And yet, we keep interrupting the delivery before it’s even truly sent. Would you interrupt God if He were standing before you – or would you critique His style?

Here, when we are told to “consider carefully how you listen,” it is a caution. It’s a caution to Gospel-hardened hearers… to those prone to perpetually criticizing. Just like country kids transplanted to the city with all the new noises gradually develops an ability to sleep despite the noise, so too do these Gospel-hardened hearers now snooze through the most stirring warnings of coming judgment.

Wake up. Take care then how you hear!