Recently I sat down and began to meet with a new partner to me in my personal walk as a Son of the King, Husband, Father and Ministry Leader. I met with Mark Thom a real life coach. While we we're talking Mark shared something, something that profoundly riveted me to the back of my chair.
After listening to answers I gave of several of his probing questions he just piped up and said, "You know what Kurt? I've come to find out no one really cares what you think."
In our first meeting this new friend had the courage to tell me a truth I instinctively knew, but rarely admitted in my own heart.
To test his theory I tried something this week as a social experiment to prove or disprove his theory.
Using the social network FaceBook three days ago I left a message expressing my opinion on a particular subject. Within one hour I had zero responses. Within three hours I had an amazing repeat of the first hour - zero responses. It's been three days since I posted that message and with not a single comment, my first test is holding up rather nicely - no response at all.
Yet when I posted a benign and endearing message like this on Facebook yesterday:
Can you guess what happened?
Within the first hour of it's posting ten different people responded with what they remember watching as a child on television. It's been just over twenty-four hours since that post and wouldn't you know, twenty-seven people have responded.
My new friend Mark, with tongue in cheek, quietly and calmly reminded me of the adage, 'People don't care how much you know - till they know how much you care."
This universal truth is paramount to us as people. We all want to be heard, we all want to be affirmed - and our propensity to continually spill out our opinion [regardless the matter, regardless the situation and regardless the tact] is evidence to this amazing truth.
So for us as Christians, investing in the lives of others remember this:
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:14-17 NIV
Everyone, whether Christian or not is constantly in their heart crying out like little children, "Abba Father, see me, hear me - acknowledge me!"
Will you have the capacity to be reminded like I was, that no-one cares what you think and hear them?
Till next time,
Kurt
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