Falling On Deaf Ears. The Danger Of God Becoming Background Noise
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear,”
- Jesus of Nazareth
Five years ago Bonnie and I moved into our current home. What we loved about it was that it was somewhat removed from the nearby town. Lots of space and very quiet. That is except for the freight trains that run about 300m off our back porch. I remember how loud they were in the early months. Sometimes, I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking they were running right through our bedroom. Now, I barely even hear them. Have they somehow gotten quieter? No, of course not. We've just experienced something called habituation.
Habituation is the psychological term for the mind blocking out continuous ambient noise. Once you are convinced that noise isn’t connected to any immediate danger, your brain allows you to continue to function without having to constantly talk yourself down and remind yourself that everything is ok. This has its benefits but it's also something that we have to push off in some scenarios. Specifically when hearing God’s word.
Jesus uses this phrase throughout the gospels and similarly in His messages to the 7 churches in the book of Revelation: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
To be honest, at first glance, it seems like a funny thing to say. Are there so many people born without ears that we need to make a distinction? I have a feeling that Jesus’ words aren't so much about our physical ears. So what is Jesus talking about then?
Just like me and the trains, we can get so used to hearing something that we eventually drown it out. We let it settle into the rest of the noise within our lives. It just becomes sound that enters our ears and resolves. It never gets deeper than that, it never affects our hearts or is applied to our lives.
Jesus' statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” is meant to cause us to sit up and lean into what He is saying with a hunger to let His words search and transform us.
Jesus wrote to the church in Thyatira, in Revelations 2:18-29, with a mixture of affirmation and correction. He affirmed their “love and faith and patient endurance.” He even highlights that they are growing and that their “latter works exceed the first.” How great that would be to hear from Jesus! But, then He brings a heavy. He identifies that they’ve been tolerating the immoral teachings of a specific woman whom He calls, "Jezebel".
Either this was a physical woman operating in the same demonic empowerment as Jezebel in the Old Testament or this was a principality sowing deception and immorality into the lives of people to destroy the purposes of God for the church. Jesus highlights something here that is important for us to hear and to search our own lives. Jesus doesn’t say that you are participating with Jezebel or that you are obeying Jezebel. He says you are tolerating Jezebel. Jesus is pointing out that they’ve allowed the lies and influence of the immoral spirit to become background noise. They have learned to live and co-exist with it. I think the same thing could be said in a general sense of the church today. We don't confront its influence in our own lives and thus we don't confront it in culture with the liberating good news of the gospel. Alternatively, and equally as bad, some people won't confront its influence in their lives and then try to confront it within the culture. This usually ends up projecting self-hatred onto the people they are supposed to reach, due to the incongruence of their lives. Neither of these methods are gospel-centred.
The question for each of us to ask the Lord is, “Am I tolerating what You defeated at the cross, and want to defeat in my life?”
Jesus' perception and answer is the only one that matters. Jesus says to us, just as he did to the church of Thyatira, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’This means allowing His words to pierce through the noise and grip our hearts. When we really do this, conquering power works in us and begins to work through us. When we overcome the persuasive seduction of the enemy working in this fallen world, we can help liberate others through the victory and good news of Jesus. This is what gospel-centred sexuality is all about.
Here's to hearing with our ears!
-Bryan Pue