The Process of Hearing and Understanding I. Introduction A. Romans 10:17: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ 1. A fundamental and foundational doctrine for evangelism and encouragement in the faith 2. God has provided the opportunity to have faith by being faithful in the Creation and through the grace provided in Christ (Romans 3:3, 1 Corinthians 10:13), but God does not compel or coerce us into having faith; we develop faith through hearing the word of Christ, accepting it for what it is, and follow the Lord 3. If others will develop faith it is through hearing the word of Christ! B. But how does this happen? How do people hear the word of Christ and understand it? C. Perhaps as great of a question is why it does not happen: how come people hear the message and either do not come to an understanding of the word of Christ or understand the word of Christ but reject it (Romans 10:16, 18-21)? D. A facile view of the process of hearing and understanding is seductive 1. The facile view is an assumption that the preacher faithfully speaks the message "objectively", the hearer faithfully hears the message "objectively," immediately understands what is being said and knows to accept it if it is the word of Christ, reject it if it is inconsistent with the word of Christ 2. In such a view the only forces at work are human: the human speaker and the human listener 3. We speak of "objectively" to mean that the message is not enculturated; the expectation often exists for both the speaker and the hearer to process the message without any preconceived bias or cultural influence 4. Likewise there is little room left for visceral, emotional, or subjective feelings or forces at work E. While it may be easy to overlook the complexities of the process of hearing and understanding, we do so at our peril 1. "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw 2. There are many forces at work and factors in play in communication on part of both the speaker and the hearer 3. Those forces and factors very much influence what and how is understood and on what basis! F. Let us spend some time considering the process of hearing and understanding and some of the forces and factors which influence that process! II. The Process of Hearing and Understanding A. In short, the process of hearing and understanding is the communication process B. The goal of communicating the Gospel is for the hearer to come to the same understanding of the faith as seen in Scripture, faithfully proclaimed by the speaker (2 Timothy 2:2) C. Whether a person "hears" the Gospel through reading the pages of Scripture or proclaimed by a preacher, the process still follows a predictable pattern 1. As seen in Hesselgrave's Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, any communication involves a source and a respondent 2. The source encodes the message and the respondent must decode the message 3. Modern example: the male head nod a. The source uses a gesture as an encoded form of communication b. The respondent would decode that message: a recognition of their existence and presence c. How much more communication will be determined by the familiarity of the source and the respondent in that particular situation 4. The encoding of a message therefore involves not just words spoken but also body language, gestures, tone, pitch, and other nuances of communication 5. Likewise, the decoding of a message does not just involve comprehending the words spoken but also discerning aspects of meaning from body language, gestures, tone, pitch, etc. 6. When the Gospel is being proclaimed, one communicates not just with the words themselves but also by the gestures, body language, tone, pitch, and other nuances of communication 7. When we approach Scripture we do not get body language or gestures; tone and pitch have also been mostly lost, although tone can occasionally be discerned (e.g. frustration in Galatians 1:1-5:16, chastisement in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, etc.) 8. Yet when the Gospel is proclaimed the hearer will get sense perceptions based upon the speaker's body language, tone, pitch, and other communication nuances! 9. Imagine the disconnect if a happy story is told in an angry tone, or cold and unfeeling body language is paired with a warm and connecting passage, or a monotone voice is used to speak a message intended to be uplifting! D. Let us now consider the source and the respondent in greater detail III. The Preacher/Speaker/Source A. All communication must begin with a source: one who is attempting to communicate B. The source, the preacher or speaker, must encode the Gospel message so that it can be properly decoded by the respondent, the hearer C. Therefore, preaching the Gospel of Christ can never be an "objective" event or affair; any proclamation of the Gospel is an interpretation! 1. A vivid demonstration of this is in Acts 8:26-40 2. The eunuch is reading and attempting to make sense of Isaiah 53, that is, to interpret the text so as to obtain understanding 3. Philip joins him and interprets the text in terms of Jesus, using Isaiah 53 to communicate the Gospel 4. The eunuch obeys the Gospel and goes away rejoicing! 5. Philip communicated the Gospel to the eunuch, encoding the message in terms of the passage they were considering, and the eunuch properly decoded its meaning 6. As we tell this story, are we properly communicating it if we tell it as if it were a tragedy? As we relate the message of Scripture, we must proclaim it with proper emphases, body language, tone, pitch, etc., or we create dissonance between what we are trying to say and how we are trying to say it! D. This speaks to the effort necessary on the part of the preacher, the source, in order to communicate! 1. For the Gospel, the preacher must first be devoted to understanding the original message; he must first decode what God has communicated through the Holy Spirit before he can encode it in such a way as to be understood (2 Timothy 2:15) 2. That decoding will demand effort to understand the textual and historical context, at times an awareness of the differences between the original language and English and how that informs understanding, and the history of interpretation of the text or message 3. The preacher does not live in some "objective" or timeless circumstance; he is a creature of his context, and must be aware of how that context may color how he decodes what Scripture teaches and thus how he encodes his message for those who would hear him 4. The Scriptures are replete with warnings about those who attempt to speak for God but do so to preach smooth things to those who hear; such people, beyond possible carnal motivations, are allowing their contextual assumptions to override what God is trying to communicate to them (e.g. Jeremiah 14:13-15, 1 Timothy 4:1) 5. Then the preacher must proclaim the message in language and idiom familiar to those who hear so as to enhance receptivity and understanding, and beyond the words used, must also embody the message through emotion, tone, pitch, body language, gestures, and lifestyle 6. Note Paul's distinctively different presentations in Acts 13:16-41 and Acts 17:22-31 7. We understand the disconnect if the body language or tone seems in consistent with the message, or if the speaker is not using familiar idiom, but if the preacher is saying something but living quite differently, that also hinders receptivity of the message (James 1:22-25) E. Preaching the Gospel, therefore, involves a lot more than just saying some words! 1. Hence, Colossians 4:5-6, 2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Peter 3:15 2. We must give consideration to how we handle Scripture and how we present the Gospel, keeping Paul's end goal of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 in mind: to do what is necessary, within the will of God, to save as many as possible 3. It may well be that many do not hear because they do not want to hear, but what if some would hear but cannot understand what we are trying to communicate? 4. What if we have loaded in a lot of tradition or a certain type of culture into our presentation of the Gospel that prove to be stumbling-blocks? 5. On the preacher/speaker/source side there is much to do to attempt to faithfully proclaim the Gospel of Christ (2 Timothy 4:1-2)! IV. The Respondent/Hearer A. The goal of communication is for the respondent to be able to decode and understand the message B. We have already considered the responsibility necessary for decoding what God has revealed in Scripture, to "hear" His voice through its pages, and much of what will be said about the one hearing a preacher is also appropriate for how we respond to hearing God in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:12) C. We must always keep in mind that the respondent/hearer is already a fully developed person, living in a particular context with a particular worldview informed by his or her upbringing, education, experiences, and context D. When they are confronted with the Gospel they will attempt to see where it will fit in their previously existing schema; everyone does E. Yet the Gospel demands that we overthrow the previously existing structure as fundamentally unsound and instead to build our worldview on the basis of Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27, Colossians 2:1-10) F. This means that "hearing" becomes a far more complicated process! G. Basic Comprehension Matters 1. Some complications might arise in terms of basic comprehension 2. The respondent/hearer might have difficulties in decoding the message because the language used is unfamiliar, s/he cannot relate what she has heard to any existing concepts, or may be uninformed or misinformed about information assumed in the communication process 3. Examples: Christian jargon ("gospel meeting," "invitation"); inability to connect contextual Biblical images to the 21st century (wedding garment, Roman military gear); different understanding of "God" or no real understanding of "resurrection", etc. 4. The respondent might walk away not even really understanding or comprehending the Gospel message! H. Message Engagement 1. Whereas many assume that engagement of the message is done only on a fully rationalistic and objective basis, such is not how humanity works! 2. Scripture is full of different ways in which people engage with messages even when those messages are understood (Isaiah 6:9-10, Jeremiah 26:11-16, Acts 2:37, 7:54) 3. The people in Isaiah's day were blinded and made deaf not because they did not comprehend what Isaiah was telling them; they did not want to hear it, it was not consistent with their life and context, and they rejected it 4. Jeremiah was accused precisely because the people understood what he said: he spoke condemnation on Jerusalem, and they did not stop to think that maybe he had a point 5. The Jews on Pentecost absolutely understood Peter's preaching, and it cut them to the heart, and they repented 6. The Jews of the Sanhedrin certainly understood what Stephen was saying, and it cut them to the heart as well, but they refused to repent and killed the messenger! I. Thus there is an interplay between one's existing thoughts, feelings, actions, and what one hears from the Word of God read or proclaimed 1. Remember, every respondent already has a fully existing worldview! 2. The respondent will likely have a visceral response to what they hear, either in favor of or against what they are understanding 3. Throughout this lesson you have been going through this same experience: what you find consistent with your understanding is acceptable and leads to favorable feelings and disposition, while anything inconsistent with your understanding is at best suspect, leading to further inquiry, and at worst the cause of negative feelings and disposition! 4. Coming to faith is never defined as feeling the warm fuzzies about everything proclaimed in the Gospel; instead, coming to faith is the willingness to first own up to the difficulty with what is being proclaimed and then proving willing to declare its truth despite our personal difficulties (e.g. John 6:66-69) 5. Yet that step will not be done by the majority; while everyone is more than happy to agree with God on points of agreement, precious few are willing to reform their lives according to the standard of God where God's standards differ sharply from what they learned as children from their parents, what they learned in their education and which has shaped their viewpoint, what they learned in religious training, etc. (Matthew 7:13-14) J. Thus we see how the word of God is living and active, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, quick to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart; it leads to very visceral reactions when our incongruities with God are exposed, and we either repent and reform, having "heard," or stand firm and rebel, "refusing to hear"! K. And so it is with every respondent to the Gospel message! V. Conclusion A. We have only begun to scratch the surface of what is involved in the process of hearing and understanding, but hopefully we can see that the process is more complicated than we might imagine yet remains critical B. The preacher and the hearer are not involved in objective communication in a vacuum; human communication is always in a context! C. The preacher must give thought and sensitivity to how he is proclaiming the message, both in words and in all the other aspects of communication D. The hearer is going to have to come to terms with the message; understanding it and affirming it as the truth of God in life are two very different things! E. Let us seek to faithfully hear God's communication, reforming our worldview to fit what He has revealed, and then seek to persuade others to follow the Lord Jesus as well! F. Invitation/songbook Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). God has decreed that people come to faith through hearing the word of Christ. Such is how the first Jewish people became Christians on the day of Pentecost; so it is to this day. We do well to consider how to most effectively proclaim the Gospel so those who hear can come to true faith in Christ! 2: Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). For a preacher to proclaim the Gospel he must first decode what God is communicating in the Gospel. We must give attention to our understanding of Scripture and handle the word properly, reducing the baggage of culture and tradition. Let us strive to preach the Gospel in its purity! 3: But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world (Romans 10:18). When the Bible speaks of people not "hearing," it rarely means that they could not physically hear or understand. They have heard; most of the time they have a basic comprehension. Instead, they do not like what they hear, and they reject it. Let us not be such people but hear what God has to say! 4: But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, "Lord, who hath believed our report?" (Romans 10:16) Since the Gospel demands full allegiance and conformity very many will reject aspects of its message they cannot reconcile with their own worldviews. Such was true in first century Israel; it remains true in twenty-first century America. Nevertheless, let us continue to seek to proclaim the Gospel so that some may hear, obey, and be saved!