Be Quick to Hear, Slow to Speak

As humans, we speak, listen, read, write, and understand in order to communicate.  Decades ago, these were viewed as valuable and necessary communication skills that young people, in particular, needed to develop. I remember once viewing a bulletin board in a school classroom that displayed these words in large print to emphasize their importance to students:

SPEAKING, READING, WRITING, LISTENING, SPELLING

With technology now dominating much of daily communication, these words today would likely include terms such as: EMAIL, TEXTING, TWEETING, and others. Today, it seems that finger movement on keyboards, phones, and computers are used more often to silently communicate messages instead of voices.

Technology has made our lives easier, to some extent, but has also contributed to a de-emphasis on and decline in verbal communication skills. There will always be the need to communicate. Writers have played major roles for readers to know what was, what is now, and what is to be.  Drawings on cave walls from the ancient past have relayed important messages. Information about what happened in the past is available to us today through the writings left behind. James 1:19 NKJV tells us, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,  slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

We should be quick to hear and slow to speak.  Hearing requires us to hear others and, at certain times, it may involve hearing self. Emotions must be managed since they can interfere with the ability to hear clearly.

Real hearing promotes one to action and especially as it relates to hearing God. That’s why we should strive to become doers of the Word and not hearers only as mentioned in James 1:22-25 NKJV:.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

God Himself spoke and the Bible contains instructions for speaking. From Old Testament to New Testament, speaking is a main form of communication. Even with all the capabilities of technology, man’s capacity to speak has been ordained and is expected. However, mankind can choose to give his abilities up or over to substitutes.  Doing so doesn’t mean that the expectations are erased or eliminated at the expense of shortcuts or easier lifestyles. We were created in God’s image and given capabilities to communicate. Technology may imitate that but it can not duplicate it.

The COVID pandemic led to the mandatory closing of many schools across the United States.  This disrupted the normal, face-to-face communication between teachers and students. Efforts were put in place to ensure that the education process continued through virtual learning options, and it was quickly realized that teachers ranked among essential workers in terms of facilitating student learning. Teachers and classrooms need listeners.  Listeners need speakers. Both speakers and listeners depend on each other. Why speak if there are no listeners? Why listen is there is nothing to be heard?

Printed pages speak to us. Written messages of long ago as well as today speak to us.  As the Word who became flesh, Jesus spoke and still speaks. The Old Testament prophets, the New Testatment apostles, pastors, teachers, evangelists, governmental authorities, civil rights leaders, and so many others have spoken to us not only through their words but also through deeds. The messages have been transmitted and will continue to be throughout time.

As believers, we must refrain from idle speech, foul words, or babbling because “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Whatever proceeds from the mouth will be heard by the ears. The ears, working in tandem with the mind, then begin processing what was heard. All ears do not hear the same.  All ears do not hear with accuracy.  All ears do not always hear the message as the speaker intended.  Give the same topic to 30 different individuals and ask them to speak on that topic and you are likely to get 30 different speeches. No two responses will be exactly the same.

A speaker should not be quick to show offence when a hearer asks questions about the content of what was spoken. The disciples even had questions for Jesus as they followed Him and were taught by Him. However, there are definitely times when what has been spoken is not to be questioned or debated. As a speaker, it is good to check for understanding by asking hearers, “Do you understand?” Then there are other times when a speaker may need to provide more examples to ensure that hearers understand. Examples can be provided under the unction of the Holy Spirit.

In John 9:10-24, we read about the formerly blind man who was repeatedly questioned about how Jesus had healed him of blindness. Although he repeatedly answered the questions presented to him, those presenting the questions were not satisfied with his answers – and proceeded to question his parents about his blindness at birth!  After being repeatedly asked to tell how Jesus had healed him and responding to the questions over and over again, the formerly blind man finally replied in verse 27 :

He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

So was it that those asking the questions were not listening to the formerly blind man as he responded to their questions – or was is that they just didn’t believe him?  Was it that they were asking the same questions of him repeatedly hoping to receive a different response from him? Were they purposely refusing to hear him in order to make excuses for rejecting Jesus? Were they using selective hearing? Could those who were repeatedly asking questions be similar to the people described in Acts 28:26 NKJV?

‘Go to this people and say:
“Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

Clearly, they were hearing but not understanding.  They could see but lacked capability to perceive.. They were unable to go beyond the physical to greater spiritual reality.  Some were quick to speak and ask repeated questions but dull and slow in their hearing and understanding.