Who to listen to part 2

Now for the second part of the post that you’ve all be waiting so patiently for! In the first post, I discussed the nature of blog posts and things I discovered that I should be considering when reading them. In this post I aim to discuss the considerations that need to be taken when listening to talks and podcasts.

Only a couple of years ago, I started to listen to Christian talks from the internet that were given by people that I had nothing to do with (other than the obvious fact that I had downloaded their talk). This completely blew my mind - I no longer had to go to conferences or move church to listen to 'world famous' preachers. They were all there on my iPod! I had John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Peter Jensen, Don Carson and more, all in my pocket! The talks I listened to (and continue to listen to) really encouraged and taught me, but I began to question their place in my daily life.

First off, I was becoming a bit of an obsessed fan, listening to sermons all the time and talking about the newest preacher I had been listening to with anyone who would listen (mainly my poor wife and brother) as if they were bands or movie stars. This attitude is bad for a couple of reasons - I was putting these people up on a pedestal and I wasn't appreciating the people that God had put over me.

Just because your local minister doesn’t blog or have a podcast, doesn’t mean that they are not as important as those gushing ideas on the internet. In fact, they have been put in a position of leadership over you and so need to be respected and listened to as such.

The message preached from the pulpit far far away (and maybe long long ago!), while it may be excellent bible teaching, has not been directed at you and so is not as important for you as the sermon preached to you on a Sunday by your local pastor. An example: Matt Chandler (who is an excellent bible teacher) often deals with the issue of ‘church as a hobby’. In his local context there is a problem of nominalism – people go to church because it’s the done thing. This is not a problem in Sydney. People will simply not go to church. So to apply some of the things raised by Matt Chandler in Sydney is silly.

Now, I still do listen to talks by preachers from other countries, and do still find them inspiring and encouraging. But I have learnt that I must put them in their proper context. I believe that the most important thing to remember when listening to preachers from other countries, cities or even other churches is that they are not preaching to you. They have created a sermon made for the people they are going to deliver it to, taking into account the issues they face and the situations they are in.

Therefore, the message they preach, while it may be an excellent one, may not specifically apply to you. Take what you can from it, but always remember that God has placed leaders over you and you should listen and learn from them first.

Luke