Heaven’s Heartbeat - Listening

Petra’s song, “Not of this World,” boomed across the venue in Pasco, Washington, with hundreds of young people singing with the band, “We are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world.” It was the spring of 1985, and I was deeply moved as these kids enthusiastically worshipped and praised Jesus.

As part of a Pacific Northwest Youth Board representing three States, our members met regularly to pray and plan ways to reach young people with the Good News of Jesus and help them grow in their faith. For this event, we prayerfully arranged a salvation message and a contemporary music band, singing songs in the vein of Keith Green, Petra, Russ Taff, and Carman.

This concert was the result of many months of prayer and hard work.

Included on stage was a friend who, four years prior, had been singing with a popular band. He had undergone a remarkable transformation, surrendered his life to Jesus, and dedicated all his band equipment to Christian ministry. Singing with him was another young man who, not long after this, recorded incredible worship albums with Hosanna music. (I’m speaking of Greg Smith and Ross Parsley.)

I stood in the back of the venue, joining in the special moment of worship, when someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Micah, there’s a group of pastors outside who want to talk to you—and they don’t look happy.”

What I walked into when I stepped outside with one of my colleagues was not encouraging. By the expressions on the faces of these pastors, I knew immediately that they were fit to be tied. Their anger hit me like a shock wave.

What was worse, these were men I had looked up to and admired.

Apparently, they had previously met and planned their opposition to our concert. And now they were intending to stop the event altogether. Several of them shouted, “This is not from the Lord!”

Their beef? The music on stage that night did not flow with the country/western genre they preferred—and the songs certainly didn’t sound like hymns or gospel choruses. This music, they insisted, was completely unacceptable for a Christian youth event. (For the record, I also enjoy Classic Country music and love the old hymns.)

The situation quickly became tense, loud—and even hostile. They were already fired up before we came out to speak with them. And now they were letting us have it with both barrels as they railed against what they saw as “evil rock music.”  

We didn’t let them in. We didn’t accept their criticism or justify their anger or shut down the concert. Eventually they left in a huff, and the joyful worship continued inside unabated.

Jesus said it and Abraham Lincoln quoted it: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25 ESV). In other words, a people with two visions and a split personality will ultimately fall apart from one another, no matter the size of their house.

Sadly, even Christians divide. Church splits are a sad common reality, leaving a wake of bruises and brokenness. And it’s not new, not by a long shot. Even the early church leaders, Paul and Peter, tangled not long after Gentile believers became part of the church (see Galatians 2:11-14).

Sometimes followers of Jesus clash over theology—and those are essential, valid discussions. More often than not, however, the arguments and fighting spring from disagreements over methodology and style—served up with a large helping of stubborn pride.

And just suppose these good folk had invested the time to cool their emotions and maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)? In that case, they might have agreed that the fracture was over personal opinion and taste, not defending our Christian faith’s precious biblical tenets.

Maybe it all boils down to spiritual discernment—and the invaluable and learned art of listening.

There is a brilliant example of listening in Acts 11:1-18.

In this passage, Peter arrives in Jerusalem, bringing the good news that non-Jewish people have received the supernatural word of God. But it wasn’t “good news” to everyone in the church. The Jewish followers of Jesus immediately began to criticize Peter for eating and hanging out with Gentiles. As with the pastors who wanted to shut down our youth event, these believers were fired up and loaded for bear before Peter ever entered the room.

What they really didn’t realize was that they were arguing against a supernatural work of God. What they really needed to do at that moment was stand and watch God work, instead of letting loose with their criticism.

Peter probably had ham on his breath after his vision in Acts 10. But his critics in Jerusalem didn’t know or understand what God was up to. Raising his hand—and probably saying the Aramaic equivalent of “Hold your horses, guys,” the Big Fisherman began to lay it all out for them.

The Message version of Acts 11:18 says it like this:

“Hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. ‘It’s really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!’”

I like how Acts 11:4 (NIV) tells us that “Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story.” So many of our arguments could be avoided if we actually listened to one another, hearing the whole story.

Christians can criticize and separate from one another for various reasons. Depending on your search engine, the Internet will provide thousands of different denominations in America. There are also Non-Denominational, Independent and Interdenominational churches.

All too often, these fissures and fragmentations are not in defense of biblical truth or vital cardinal doctrines but rather over opinion, method, and long-established tradition.

Yes, faith alone in Jesus is the only way to be saved. His death and resurrection promise new and eternal life. God’s Word, the Bible, is inspired, and every person born again by the Holy Spirit is part of Jesus’ body, called the Church. Biblical truth is not up for grabs. But before you jump to conclusions, I realize that it is much more complex than this—trying to sort out exegesis, interpretation of the text, and how it is applied and lived out.

I am still listening and learning how to relate with others when they disagree with me. I sometimes get it right. And when I don’t, true humility, according to the Bible, will always lift us up and draw us back together.

I know that Christians will have differences, but if they are “in Christ,” they are all part of the same body of Christ (whether they like it or not) and should strive to love and respect one another despite those differences. The Bible teaches unity and encourages believers to maintain the bond of peace and work together to spread the Gospel message of Jesus.

Will we disagree sometimes? Count on it. But that’s okay. Moving forward, however, we must respect and love each other, even when our opinions differ.

The plain-spoken apostle James summed it up like this:

“You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”

(James 1:19 NLT)

That, my friend, is wise counsel that can heal every relationship.

- Micah