The leader who listens - Samuel

The mantra “without vision the people perish” is much quoted by leadership teachers both within the church and outside – but it is also much misunderstood. The phrase, taken from Proverbs 29:18 is often used to refer to the general view that people need to see the “bigger picture”, need to know what we are heading towards and have a “vision” for the future. Whether this is true or not (which I believe it is), Proverbs 29:18 isn’t referring to this need. It is a comment on mans dependence on God speaking to us, on his revelation of himself and his will in order for us to live in a truly human way. Whatever our capacity as leaders (whether parents, friends family, work) we need to be people who hear and listen to God.

Listening is a privilege

In Deuteronomy 4:32-34 we are presented with the significance of God speaking to human beings.

“Search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now. Then search from one end of the heavens to the other. See if anything as great as this has ever happened before Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire as you did and survived?”

One thing that the people of Israel to whom these words were spoken knew, above all things was that it was a privilege to be spoken to by the creator and sustainer of the universe. And they knew that when they were spoken too – they should listen.

God did not have to speak. He did not have to say anything. He did not have to communicate with a rebellious people – but he chose to call to them.

And so, throughout history people have had the chance to hear God only because he has chose to call to them and spoken to them. And the same is true with Samuel.

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-14

At the beginning of 1 Samuel 3, Israel is in a desperate state – “Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare and visions were uncommon” (3:1) In the past God had spoken to his people, but they had chosen not to hear and listen – so God has stopped speaking. No guidance, no leading and very little communication. Even the priesthood is corrupt and immoral (1 Samuel 2:12-17)

But in this one, simple incident at the beginning of the life of Samuel a dramatic change has happened.

“As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other know that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued appear a Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. And Samuel’s words went out to all the people”(3:19-4:1)

What has changed and caused this breaking in of God’s word?

The Lord called – and Samuel – the “would-be leader” has listened.

We follow in Samuels footsteps. We are a privileged people because the same God who spoke to Samuel speaks today. But are we listening?  How do we listen?  What can we learn from the story of Samuel about listening to God?

There are a number of lessons.

1.  Listening is learnt

You can see from 3:1-18 that Samuel had to learn to hear God. He had to learn how to discern both who and what was being said to him. We need to do that too. In every area of our lives as leaders – our friends, family, work situations etc we need to learn to listen to what God is saying to us.

But what does that mean? Are we to assume we will hear voices in the dark at night time, dreams and visions, spectacular messages out of the blue?

The answer to that question needs to be carefully nuanced. It is not a straightforward one. People can often be polarised in their views to the answer to this question. But I think it is something like this.

Should we assume God will speak to us in this way? No, we should not assume it.

Does God ever speak in this way? Yes, he may choose to and does choose too – but it is not the norm so we should not assume it. I will expand on that in a minute but if our answer to this question is right, then what does it mean for us to hear God as Samuel did, and therefore to be able to lead effectively?

To answer this more fully, lets jump just over a thousand years to the New Testament.

Hebrews 1:1-2 says -

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.”

Since the days of Samuel and the prophets, a major change has happened in the way God communicates. He doesn’t speak in the same way he did in the past. Now he speaks through his Son.

Just a brief look through the New Testament, we discover that this is the case. From the days of Jesus on, the church is built on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets (OT prophets)” (Eph 2:20). The early church dedicated themselves to the apostles teaching (Acts 2:42) because they were teaching Christ. We now do that same as we dedicate ourselves to the written words of the apostles in the New Testament. Even the teaching of the Old Testament is teaching Christ – just look at what Jesus was doing on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27). He explained how the prophets spoke of himself.

As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians – “For no one can lay any other foundation that the one we have already have – Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11)

So, we hear God speaking through Jesus Christ by reading the apostles and prophets. The Apostles as they recorded the life, teaching and implications of what Jesus taught and the prophets as they looked forward and prepared the way for Jesus.

This is primarily what it means for us to listen to God.  First and foremost that we need to learn to listen to the Bible. That is why we place such an emphasis in our Sunday mornings on the Bible. We read it, teach from it and point people to it.

The problem is we live in a world with lots of background noise. Like trying to hold a conversation in a busy market place, often our listening is hindered by the background noise of life. To hear God clearly we need to learn to cut out the background noise. This means a number of things.

Firstly, practically we must create time, space, quiet and seclusion so that other things don’t press in and distract us. When this happens, the first thing that happens is my reading the Bible becomes dictated not by what God is saying but by what is currently happening in my life. I look for what I want to find and hear – and don’t hear properly.

The second way we must remove background noise is by acknowledging our cultural baggage and recognising how it affects the way we listen. This is true for all of us, but particularly those brought up in Christian families or churches. We fail to see how often we have been shaped by culture, tradition, style and others perspectives rather than Gods word in the Bible. We must stand under the authority of the Bible alone, not these other things.

So we need to learn to listen.

But is the Bible the only way that God speaks today? Doesn’t the New Testament speak about prophecy today?

Yes it does – God can and does speak today outside of the Bible, but not in the same way he did in the past, and not with the same authority. He also doesn’t tell us anything new about his plan for salvation, the gospel or what he is like. The Bible is sufficient for all these things as Peter makes clear –

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises…” (See 2 Peter 1:3-4 – See also 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

There are no more Samuels in the same way today.

But God does lead us and guide us – and we need to be open to him doing this. There are gifts of prophecy, words of knowledge, insight and wisdom. We should acknowledge and use these things wisely with thanksgiving. Here are a few brief hints about how this might work.

• When we feel God is speaking, be careful to give it the right amount of authority. Think hard and test against the Bible. Ask others to help you make sound judgements. Decide never to talk in a “God has told me” kind of way. It can be dangerous as we can end up putting words in God’s mouth that he hasn’t said! Remember we are all fallible!

It is very interesting that in Acts 16:6-10 God spoke to Paul and lead him to Macedonia in a vision. But Paul didn’t jump straight away. We are told that they ‘concluded’ that God wanted them in Macedonia. They thought, discussed then made a decision. This is a good model for us.

• Recognise that prophecy, words of knowledge and discernment are gifts – not everyone works like this. Those who do need to learn to use these gifts in a right and appropriate manner. When we feel God is speaking to us, what should we do with what we feel he I saying. The first thing to do is wait, pray, test with scripture and ask what purpose he has told us this for. Expect to make mistakes and learn from them. Don’t neglect the gift but develop it wisely and carefully. Speak to a church leader for more advice.
• Get the right perspective – God has not promised to speak to us in this way. He may do but has not promised too so we would do well to spend more time focussing on what he has promised – to speak through the Bible. Get our perspectives right.

2.  Listening isn’t easy

The second big lesson we learn from Samuel is that listening to God is not easy. Just a quick glance at what God said to Samuel makes that very clear.

Look at 1 Samuel 3:11-12. God’s word to this very young man was message of judgement against Israel’s leaders. For young Samuel this would have been far from fun and exhilarating. It would have been terrifying.

We find the same thing later on when God rejects Saul, and tells Samuel first (see 15:10-11) Samuel’s response to God’s word was to be deeply moved – he cried out about it all night long.

Listening isn’t easy because God tells us what we are really like. But if we are going to be able to lead others, we need this realism and reality. Listening to God means not being afraid of a challenge, not being afraid to be confronted with our sin and rebellion. It means hearing the reality of what God is saying.

We will each have had parents who challenged us with things we didn’t want to hear. The way we responded to those things would dictate whether we grew or because more rebellious – listening is hard!

3.  God uses listeners to lead

But of course, it is listeners that God uses to lead. We just read that God continued to speak through Samuel and to use him. Why? Because he listened.

Samuel became a great leader in the history of Israel. A real hero and a high point.

Look at Ch 7:12-13 Because Samuel acknowledged God as the leader, not himself and sought to listen to him, God used him to bring peace and security to Israel.

You want to lead your family – then become a listener.  You want to lead your friends well – then become a listener.  You want to learn to lead well at work – then become a good listener – listening to God.

There are many leaders from history who have done just that. Martin Luther is a good example. He stood up against the regime of the Roman Catholic church because he heard God speaking clearly through the Bible and challenging the norms. Listeners learn to lead.

The reason God uses listeners to lead is because listening leads to obedience.

4.  Listening leads to obedience

God speaks to us for a reason. In fact the reason God had stopped speaking to Israel was because they had stopped listening – or more accurately stopped obeying. When God speaks to us, what does he want us to do - to hear him?

Ultimately no – He wants us to obey him because it is the best for us!

When God rejected Saul, the easiest thing for Samuel would not have been obedience.  When God rejected Eli the easiest thing would not have been obedience.  In both cases the easiest thing would have been to disobey and keep quiet. But leaders who God uses listen and obey.

So you want to be a listener – well obey and be a Jesus person. People who carry the label “Christian” can be all sorts of things - oriented around buildings or worship music, the latest fad or fashion. But leaders are listeners, which means they are people whose lives are oriented around living for, serving, worshipping and communicating Jesus – to friends, family, work colleagues etc. Jesus is the “Word” - God’s ultimate communication to mankind. So – are you listening?

5.  Listeners are risk takers

Finally, listeners are risk-takers. Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13

This is a fantastic passage. God knew who he wanted to be the next king, and Samuel knew what he thought God wanted. But he was wrong. The King God wanted was not the natural choice.

What God wants is often not the obvious choice. It is not even always what everyone else would have done. If they had been running a “King academy” to decide who should be King, David would have been voted off in round one. – the crowd (and Samuel, and you and I too!) would have decided the wrong guy. But God knew.  Listeners must listen and be prepared to take risks in obedience to God’s word – no matter what the culture, society or others are saying.

God wants leaders who listen. Is that you?