Hear the Voice and hone your own

It stands out in my memory as one of the most powerful statements I’ve ever heard. At the 2017 General Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Rev. Bob Ely stood at the podium during a business session and proclaimed the necessity for the Spirit to anoint the ears of the hearer as much as we pray for the Spirit to anoint the mouth of the preacher.

Notice how the New Living Translation expresses these pointed words from Jesus: “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Matthew 11:15). Jesus repeats this to the seven churches in Asia minor: “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Rev. 2-3).

One of the greatest and most important lessons that a musician has to learn is to “listen.“ Regrettably, I didn’t catch onto that when I was a music student. It was a couple years after I started teaching when I took some students to a large choral festival where the clinician was talking about this concept. Of course, it made complete sense and I didn’t have to question “why.” I just “knew in my knower” that it made sense and it had to be true. When I started applying this teaching to my own music classroom, it made all the difference in the world! Each individual member of an ensemble, whether band, chorus, or orchestra must understand his or her role in the ensemble. This can only be accomplished by learning to listen.

I love the way Fred B. Craddock, the late, great authority on inductive / narrative preaching, relates singing and preaching to one another. He insists that “preaching is like singing.” As he explains:

“The Bible takes listening very seriously. The Bible’s term for ‘listening’ is translated most often as ‘obey.’ But the Bible doesn’t know the difference between ‘listen’ and ‘obey.’ Listening is a fundamental word, but it is so hard to do. We all have marvelous mechanisms for not listening. The Bible recognizes this… You don’t just listen–it takes an act of God to really listen… So we start with the introduction of the ear because it is the person who can hear the gospel who can preach the gospel. Preaching is like singing. If you don’t have the ear, then you don’t have the voice.”

Since preachers and singers spend much of our lives using our voices, we are most likely well aware of the significance of our voices, at least in the sense that the voice is the medium that carries what is in our minds and hearts to the ears of those watching and listening. Craddock described his voice as the sound of “the wind whistling through a splinter on the post.” But beyond just the physical voice is the spiritual voice we have as shepherds, leaders, and guides. This goes beyond the mere quality or timbre of the voice. Maybe you don't like the sound of your own voice as much as someone else. (This is normal! But we have to move past ourselves in order to reach others with the voice God gave us!)

And as we seek to be the most effective voices we can be, we learn that we can only do so by listening to The Voice. No, not the TV show! :D You know… THE VOICE! “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). We find our voice by listening to the voice. We learn to listen by understanding our role in the ensemble and playing, singing, preaching our part faithfully. While we are still dealing with stay-at-home orders or social distancing and all that goes with our current circumstances, right now is a great time to be honing your voice by listening to His.