Last night I finally finished Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt, a book I’ve blogged about quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. All things considered it is a worthwhile read for anyone entrusted with the responsibility of teaching people in a church setting. I’ve discussed the book with one of my colleagues, and we both agree that Pagitt does a great job of “tearing down the wall”, but doesn’t do all that great of a job of re-building it (but then again, that’s just the way Emergent types like to do things, right? ;-)). In all seriousness, I think that was his intent…rather than providing answers, I think he sought only to encourage a deeper level of thinking about how we approach the preaching event and what roll it can play in communities of faith. He certainly accomplished that goal.
The final two chapters of the book deal largely with the importance of listening in a community of faith. Pagitt writes,
“Speaching has caused speech making to be elevated to one of an “effective” pastor’s primary skills. But for all the work involved in developing the skills required to be a good speaker, the most important one is often the most neglected. For speaking–particularly for pastors–involves knowing how to listen. And listening is not simply hearing. It’s a practice requiring interpretation, intuition, and openness.”
I completely agree with Pagitt on this. I think the reality of our present church culture today is that pastors are judged for more on how well they can speak then on how well they can listen. Furthermore, the relationship between these two skills that Pagitt is alluding to is often overlooked. I would suggest that the reality is that being a good “speacher” is important for building a large church, but being an good listener is more important to truly be a pastor to a congregation of people. I’m realizing more and more each day how much more I desire to be someone who walks alongside college students as they wrestle through the complexities of following Jesus. I was having coffee with Ron Gollner, our creative arts pastor, a few weeks ago, and he encouraged me to make it a practice of my life to try to make sure that the people around me succeed more than I do. In other words, he encouraged me to be a good listener, and be someone who is most interested in helping those in my care achieve their highest potential. What a tremendous way to live life that is! The problem is, it doesn’t come naturally to me. I like talking more than listening, and I like receiving attention more than giving it (hey, I’m just being honest here). That being said, I’m striving to take more time to listen to the students at Seven24 and see what I can do to help them grow in their relationship with Christ and realize their fullest potential. That is proving to be not only very rewarding, but also a lot of fun. I look forward to developing the skill of pastoral listening for the purpose of using my life to enrich the lives of others. I’m beginning to understand the reality that, more often than not, listening is a far more effective means of helping someone understand the reality of who Jesus is (and the implications of that reality) than talking, or even preaching.
Pagitt closes the book with this:
“Listening to the voices of others is an essential part of being the church. We were never meant to close in on ourselves. We were never meant to engage with only those who share our positions. We’ve been called to live in the way of Jesus, who sought out the ordinary, the outsider, and the unbeliever, not only to make them whole, but also to bring his followers into the fullness of life in the kingdom. For it is often in the life of others where we find God at work in the most profound ways imaginable.”
Listening is indeed an essential part of being the church. I believe that a listening community is a community that encourages active engagement rather than passivity, and it’s one that can be open to a variety of perspectives while still proclaiming truth. It is one that recognizes the value of all voices, not just the voice of the one with the microphone, and it is one that recognizes that as the church we are invited into “the fullness of life in the kingdom.” That’s a wonderful, amazing, fantastic truth, and it’s my hope that as Seven24 continues to move towards becoming a more interactive, listening community that we can find God at work in remarkably profound ways.
Next of the list of books to read before bed, The Great Omission, by Dallas Willard. I’m sure that will raise a lot of interesting issues as well. Also, I’ve been formulating a post in my head called “When the Church isn’t Christian” that is the result of some different things I’ve been thinking through, so you can expect to see that one soon (hopefully!).
