Carl Thomas dot net

I Got An Idea – How About You Shut Up?

I just got off the phone with a pastor friend of mine.  He has been in ministry since before I was saved and I needed to tap some of that experience.

If you are called to preach, the chances are that you are a talker.  And when you get two preachers on a phone, it is sometimes hard to get a word in.  This is fine when you are calling for some fellowship or encouragement.  But this is a huge problem when you need to learn something.

I can’t tell you how irritating it is when I am trying to counsel someone and they are constantly interrupting me or in some amazingly frustrating moments, they try to teach me something.  I usually try to end those conversations as quickly as possible.  I also find it irritating when people waste my time with idle chit chat.  If you really want me to disciple you, you won’t be frivolous with our time alone talking about things that have no meaning to me.  You will come with some things you have been thinking about or will at least pause to see if there is something I wanted to talk to you about.

In other words – You will shut up and listen.

I find this hard.  I want to make friends.  I want to enter into conversation.  I want to be encouraging.  But when I call someone like my friend today, he does not need to hear my anecdotes.  I need to hear his.  So I have to repeatedly tell myself to shut up and listen. I find myself beginning to converse and I tell myself again, “shut up and listen.”

When I visit a church plant I like to ask the lead pastor some very direct and open ended questions.  Then I try my hardest to shut up and let him talk as long as he wants.  And usually, somewhere around the third or fourth sentence the Holy Ghost will enter the conversation and I will begin to hear what I really need to hear.

So let me give you an exercise to try out.  The next time you find yourself with that person who has wisdom and insight into an area that you want to grow in, try this advise.  How about you shut up?  And listen.  You might learn something.  I know I did.