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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Comprehending
What The Bible Communicates A local doctor of
sociology recently said that we only comprehend thirty percent of what we
hear. In their 1988 hit song
entitled "In The Living Years," Mike and the Mechanics sang
"you can listen as well as you hear."
Both the doctor and the rock band suggest that hearing is one
thing, but listening is another thing, and listening requires our diligent
effort. There are many reasons
why we don't comprehend what we hear.
Our minds are pre-occupied with other things.
Why listen when we think we are right.
We are busy formulating a response to what we hear.
We don't know the one we hear well enough to know how he defines
certain words and terms. We
are fed up with the vast variety of voices vying for our attention that we
plug our ears and just tune it all out.
James 1:19 seems
relevant to all of this. "My dear brothers
and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow
to speak and slow to become angry," James tells us to be
quick to listen and slow to speak. The
Greek verbs from which our English words "listen" and
"speak" are translated implies that the actions of listening and
speaking have a specific goal that needs to be accomplished, which I
believe is
understandable communication. Both
listening and speaking, then, require diligent effort if the communication
is to be effectively understood.
Effective communication occurs when what is
communicated is understood as the communicator intends it to be
understood.
In Biblical terms, that would mean we must attempt to understand
the Bible as it wants to be understood, not as we think it should be
understood. We must, then, be
slow to speak our interpretative response into the Biblical communication.
A quick interpretation will end in misunderstanding and
misapplication. Our
presuppositional biases, our twenty-first century western-world cultural
mindset, and our English language with its definitions of words and terms,
often diminishes our understanding of what the Bible is communicating.
I think Mike and the
Mechanics, the doctor of sociology, James, and maybe even you, might agree
with me when I say that the best way to understand what is being
communicated is to take the needed effort to know the communicator.
Whether it's my wife, my friend, my Lord, or the Bible, knowing the
communicator helps me understand what is communicated.
Knowing as much about the Bible as is possible is necessary before
I jump to a quick doctrinal conclusion.
To the degree that I can know when a Biblical passage was written,
to whom it was written, by whom it was written, the historical cultural
environment in which it was written, and the language in which it was
written, will be the degree to which I can effectively comprehend what the
Bible is communicating. That
takes much diligent effort.
More than ever before I
realize my need to be quick to listen to what the Bible is communicating
and slow to speak or impose my thoughts into its communication. Hearing
is one thing. Listening with
the goal of comprehending is another thing, and if need be, I don't
hesitate to re-adjust any doctrinal interpretations to which I hold.
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