Science tells us that there are certain frequencies that the majority of the population simply cannot hear. Maybe you are one of the blessed majority whose ears are long detuned to these frequencies, living your life in blissful ignorance of the uncomfortable sounds in your midst. Alternatively, if you’ve still got youthful hearing, you may sympathise with my iPod speaker ear-pain.
In some ways, this can serve as a metaphor for the Christian life (bear with me). Most people live their lives blissfully unaware of any higher, spiritual frequency, perhaps just picking up glimmers or sounds every now and then. But unless their ears are ready to listen to a higher pitch, unless they slow down, tune in and seek out the sounds from a higher realm, they will miss them entirely. Yet those of us who know Jesus have picked up on the dulcet tones of the one who speaks to us from before the dawn of time. This spiritual frequency, unlike my iPod speaker sound, is beautiful, and available to all with ears to hear.
Listening, and really hearing, is perhaps exactly what it is to be a follower of Jesus. And not just followers of Jesus, but followers of Jesus who are seeking to help young people tune their ears to him. For it is only in really hearing our young people that we can begin to help them hear God’s voice too. Are we really, deeply listening to our young people? Are we really, deeply listening for God’s gentle whisper? And are we facilitating the young people in our midst to tune in their ears to hear him too?
I get the feeling that we are typically quite good at listening to young people as youth workers; it is our desire to hear them well and to respond appropriately. But do we extend this listening to all areas of our work? This month we wanted to explore the ever-changing realm of schools’ work. SchoolsworkUK’s Amy Tolmie set herself the challenge of answering the question, ‘what does it really mean to be good news in schools?’, in ‘Love your school and not your schools’ work’. And so much of loving our schools, she discovers, really comes down to listening to the students and staff. Not going in with our set agenda, our flashy assemblies and CU plans and RE lessons, but listening to what the school needs, and what will make a difference to them.
I wonder how many relationships with schools have been tainted by individuals launching in with set agendas. I wonder how many schools feel reluctant to invite external people in for fear that they will be more hard work than they’re worth. And I wonder if I’ve been responsible for any of the above.
One day, my ears will no longer be able to hear the deathly high-pitched squeal from the iPod speakers. My soul and ears thirst for that day. But I hope that I will never detune to the voice of God around me. I hope that my ears will never become dull to the young people I seek to serve. I hope that I can not only listen, but really hear.
At Premier’s 20th anniversary celebration last month we announced that from now on, all of our resources will be available to download for free at PremierYouthwork.com. Anyone who registers for the site will get free access to all of the resources from the magazine (meeting guides, games, schools etc) as downloadable PDFs. So head to the website, check it out and tell… everyone!
