Acts 17.28 - Double Listening

Acts 17.28 - Double Listening

One reason Paul was so effective in ministry is that he used both ears well. John Stott called this ‘double listening.’ One minute the Apostle quotes Hebrew Scripture, the next Greek poets. He heard and understood the Eternal Word and also his changing world. So should we. With our ‘big’ ear we should listen to God - He made them both! And with our ‘little’ ear we should listen to people because God made them too. One theologian spoke of having the Bible in one hand and the newspaper (maybe today I should say, iPad) in the other. This balance can be hard to maintain with our busy lives. Last week I challenged you to give 5 minutes a day to reading the Bible – more is fine too! We also need to hear the decisive ideas and events that shape our society.