Listen, See, and Love

I have a voice. You have a voice. We all have a voice. If you don’t like something then speak up. If you see injustice then confront it. If you see a wrong then correct it. Your opinion matters.

These are the things that we are constantly being told today. These aren’t necessarily bad things. In fact, these are all things that help us to enact social change. These are tools that can equip us to keep building God’s kingdom. But what if we speak too much? What if in our efforts to bring about real change, we remain so focused on what we want, what our opinion is, or being set in our ways, that we tend to forget or even neglect the needs and beliefs of others? In a way, we want to be philanthropic but in some ways we are actually egocentric. The solution to egocentrism is compassion. Compassion is empathizing with the distress of others. It is a form of love.

In a world of brokenness, we need compassion. We need empathy. We need love. Our world is inflicted by sin: racism, marginalization, and political/social polarization. But for many of us if you look differently, talk differently, speak differently, or behave differently, then we judge you. We preach that we are “not of this world” but do we really behave like such when our Christian communities selectively choose who we want to engage with while ignoring the needs of others? To me that’s not consideration, that is isolation. The unfortunate thing is that we are all guilty of it. At some point, we have lived out moments that have negatively impacted and pervaded our lives. These moments can bring a great deal of pain and suffering, which may give way or even be representative of further sin and injustice that permeates our world.

Furthermore, this sin is often coupled or even a symptom of our underlying brokenness. Some could argue the two are mutually and permanently bound together. As Bryan Stevenson says “We are all broken by something. We have all hurt someone and have been hurt. We all share the condition of brokenness even if our brokenness is not equivalent.”

This quote by Bryan Stevenson, an experienced attorney and civil rights advocate, is from his book entitled Just Mercy, and tells the story of his experiences in dealing with brokenness through the forms of racial injustice and defending the wrongly accused that have been placed on death row. Bryan’s story is not only compelling and moving, but it is a story of redemption and most importantly a story of love that tears down walls of pain, suffering, and brokenness. After reading much of Bryan’s memoir, it is evident that the reason why he is so special at being a lawyer is because he doesn’t see his job as a profession, but he sees his job as a mission. He views it as a means to improve the lives of others by paying attention to their concerns. He listens. And I believe this is the act of love that is often missed. In a world full of media and communication at our fingertips, we have access to letting the world know of our thoughts in a second. But how quickly can we listen to someone who needs help? How quick are we to pick up the phone when we don’t want to take that person’s phone call but know that they could use an ear to listen? A shoulder to lean on? A hand to wipe away their tears?

Bryan shares his stories of meeting and defending clients who were presumed to be guilty but in fact were wrongfully sentenced to death in conspiracies that were subject to intense forms of brokenness and sin. As I was reading Bryan’s book at the pool in my apartment complex, I couldn’t help but notice a young African American boy appearing lonely. As I glanced onward, he was eyeing a football and wanted to play with the Caucasian boy and his father in the pool. Trembling with nervousness, the young boy simply wanted to ask to play but didn’t know how. The father noticed the boy and invited him over to play with his son. And when the boy picked up the football and threw it, it was as if all the joy in the world had transferred into his spirit. He was full of life as he had experienced the most breathtaking emotion in that moment: love. I stopped in awe because I saw Jesus come to life in the boy right in front of me. And in a society where we are still plagued by brokenness, especially in the form of problems related to race, it was an inspiring moment to see. The points in time that Bryan described in his book of being present and stopping to listen and include people, is what I witnessed unfold before my very eyes. And while I believe we have a long way to go in breaking down walls of brokenness, the special occurrences like the one in front of me, were a display of exactly what Bryan was speaking to and precisely what Jesus calls us to do: to listen and to include as a form of compassion and love.

So while we have not necessarily experienced the same level of pain, disappointment, and suffering in our lives, we all have at some point encountered what it is like to feel lost, hurt, empty, unwanted, etc. Taking the time to just listen to a person, their story, their experiences, beliefs, even their convictions, is perfectly okay. In fact, I recommend it. These are the experiences that have shaped them into who they are and even if we don’t understand exactly where they are coming from, we can at least open our eyes to the fact that different perspectives are often shaped by the moments and cultures that various people are surrounded with. In reality, this exposure to new ideas and new systems will only mature our development in the long run. It will form us into better servants of Christ.

To become better servants of Christ is to reform some of our desolate surroundings by recreating and restoring God’s kingdom. And those who take part in God’s kingdom are those who are here to show humility, compassion, respect and even listen. In this Kingdom we recognize God’s image of humanity and in this Kingdom we love.

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” ― Ralph G. Nichols