The Lines Are Open ... Or Are They?

As I travel and hear the heart of pastors across teh countryside, I am always sensitive to the things that weigh heavy on their hearts. I have learned, both by my own experience and by interaction with others, that the situation is rarely as it is perceived. I have found this especially true in our era of electronic communication.

Most of us, when we find that there is tension developing, if we are honest, will realize that we hear through a filter of bias. The bias in audio recording is critical to getting the outcome we desire from a recording. As a sound technician you learn that your bias is effected by everything in the environment you are hearing. Birds, temperature, humidity, the amount of direct sunlight, background noise, and everything else you can or can't imagine affects your input. By constantly monitoring and adjusting your bias you can get the optimum results. It is a great picture of our relationships with one another.

Think about those with whom you have a relationship. When you hear something about them, immediately your bias filter kicks in and you decide whether or not you believe everything you are hearing. If you are kindly affectioned toward them, you bias filter will add grace and favor to the things you hear. If you have issues with them your bias filter will tend to amplify the things that reinforce your opinion and diminish the things that don't agree with your feelings about them. The problem with the bias in either case is that we do not hear with accuracy what is being said.

How often did we hear Jesus say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." It seems like a silly statement, doesn't it. Everyone there had ears. They could all hear what He was saying. There must have been more to the statement. Jesus was addressing the fact that our biases often ruin our ability to effectively communicate with one another and with God. He was implying, if not saying outright, "Turn off the bias filter and let the message get through in its purest form, then you will understand what it is I am saying." It applies wiht Him, how much more wiht the people we interact with on a daily basis.

Sometimes our bias so skews things that it is as if we are speaking two different languages. Turn off the bias and see what comes out. 1 Cor. 13:4-8, you know, the love passage, gives a couple of key elements to overcoming our biases. "Love thinks no evil, ... Love isn't keeping score to see if it wins, ...love always believes the best, ... Love is full of hope and always expects the best in every situation, ... love never quits, never runs out, and is never the victim." Love will cancel out the bias, if we will cooperate, and we will be able to see relationships grow, even in the midst of adversity.

Let's turn off the bias, see the Kingdom advance, and make the Father proud of His kids.