Outreach Pays Attention

Jesus went to them whether they were in big cities or tiny villages. He taught, preached and healed. He met people where they were. Jesus had compassion for them. He told His disciples to pray for the laborers to go to work.

We live in an attention-deficit society. We have so much noise going on that it is easy to disconnect from others. COVID-19 did not help our isolation. It’s disconcerting to see a family of four seated in a restaurant with all heads down and paying more attention to their devices than to each other. Technology is only a symptom of our deeper problem of not paying attention to the people we are with.

Prayer is paying attention to God. It involves being quiet. It is a move away from our own agenda into another’s. Poor listening skills and habits break down trust. Teams do not perform well when they do not listen to the coach and their teammates. A failure to listen, to hear, and to heed instructions often results in poor decisions, errors, and hurt feelings.

As the saying goes, Two ears—one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we talk.