“Hearers” Can Change the World! by Robert Ricciardelli

“The world is dying for want, not of good preaching, but of good hearing.”

(George Dana Boardman)

It is time that Gods people begin to take the initiative in seeking the Lord like never before. Going to church on Sunday and yet not living as the church on Monday has given us a powerless message to society. We have an identity crisis in the fact that we have created a place for ministry instead of a people mobilized for the work of the ministry. We are a nation of kings and priests, filled with the Spirit of the Living God, and supposed to be a church in which the gates of hell has no chance in hell to defeat.

As the Body of Christ continues to go through a global transition, it is increasingly evident that much of what might have worked in the past, right or wrong, will not work going forward. The times of leading with fear, control, and manipulative tactics to capture the lost, and lead the gullible is over. It has had its day, and the results are in, it simply has not been effective in impacting society around us. Organizational agenda’s can serve the system so well that it leaves little ability to serve the needs of the people inside or outside the system, beginning with authentic relationships.

Ears to Hear!

Are we hearing the Lord’s voice for our own lives, or have we become accustomed to listening to the voices of others in how we live, move, and have our being? Teaching others to hear the Lord’s voice for themselves is often a threat to some systems and its leaders. Letting God speak His directives to His people can sometimes threaten others agendas. If leaders are not being discipled by Jesus, and His Kingdom principles, then how are they able to teach, disciple, and lead others to Him? By not being disciples themselves of His Eternal Kingdom, then to where and to what are others being led? Religion? Agenda filled organizations? Another movement or trend?

God’s people can begin to bring God’s presence to others when Christ is leading them daily in their personal lives. He will direct them to faith communities that will allow them to grow in the areas of “one anothering”. We all must attain another level of obedience in pursuing His Kingdom standards because we understand that His life matters most. As we live the exchanged life, we can trust the Father for all things, and to work out all things according to His plan.

All that we would seek to accomplish must be done because we are hearing His voice. His destiny for us can only be fulfilled because we have the revelation and vision of His plans and purposes. This does not mean we may know the forseeable future, but that we are obediently moving towards our future as Fathers children who desire to please Him above all things.

Where do we start?

We must get a hold of the fundamentals or foundations of our faith, starting with, God is love. It is not all about trying to sin less and become better. Conscientious living of the moral majority standards is not the answer. The law proved to the world long ago that the answer is not in following the do’s and the don’ts of the law, as interpreted by the “Whose Who” of our faith communities.

Morality can only change because His loving presence has overwhelmed us to the degree that sin nature that was once prominent, continues to lose its steam because our former lives have been exchanged for His agape life. The answer is a Person, the answer is the Lord Himself, and not anything we can do.

When we choose Jesus, it means we do not choose us before Him any longer. It means we have relationships that are not birthed by agendas, but by His love and by truly caring for each other. It means we choose His ways and no longer our ways. It is a constant battle, no doubt, and one that needs intimacy with a most glorious Father and Savior. And the methods of our journey can no longer be carnal, but strategically supernatural because He lives and moves us towards His best daily, as we submit to His directives in every sphere of life…

And so we seek Him, we listen, and learning from Him, we become empowered to bring His transformational Spirit into every environment and rejoice in all He will do through our lives. Gods “Hearers” can truly change the world.