"Are You Listening To Me?!?"

The other night my wife and I were in the middle of a conversation - actual "big people" talk, something almost unheard of around our house - when Bella had had enough. She was ready to enter the conversation and began the barrage. She leaned in real close to Beth, talking just above a whisper. When that didn't work, she talked at the top of her voice - in fact, you can probably still hear the words echoing around our dining room. Still, Beth and I kept our conversation going, desperate to keep the "big people" talk alive. Bella stood up in her chair, leaned in real close, grabbed Beth by the cheeks, and said, with a gleam in her eye and a grin on her lips, "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?"

I know where she got that. That's a phrase that has crossed my lips many times, though none have been as comical as the one that night. But anytime I need to give the kids some sort of training or instruction, I find myself HAVING to ask, "Are you listening to me?" Now Bella wasn't just rattling off a phrase she got out of the book "Ten Phrase Every Parent Should Know and Overuse". She was not offering training or discipline. She wasn't interested in critiques on diction or a vocabulary lesson. She had a greater concern. Her question went beyond whether or not we were listening. In fact, the words of the story really didn't mean much. When you strip away all the layers, all the words, her eyes, her little hands clutching my wife's face - all of it - was easily translated into one simple cry. Notice me.

I have the same desire. I was reminded of that this morning. You see, today is my birthday. I haven't really done much on my birthday for quite sometime. This morning was no different - no big plans, no expectations - or so I told myself. I went to work not expecting anything extravagant - just another day. Then some friends gave me a birthday card. My wife and children called to wish me a happy birthday and all four of the kids sang 'Happy Birthday', with an encore presentation by Bella a little while later. As the birthday wishes poured in from all over, I began to walk a little taller, with more spring in my step. The day just kept getting better and better - I was on top of the world.

Why? Because of all the birthday money? Nope. Because I had been anointed "World's Greatest Dad, Youth Director (thanks Joe), Employee, and All Around Good Guy"? Nope. I had been noticed.

Isn't that the question asked verbally and emotionally by everyone, everywhere? The baby crying in his crib, the toddler's endless questions - are you listening? Your husband's failed attempts to clean the house, your wife's new hairdo - Did you notice? The cashier at the grocery store, the server at the restaurant, the tattooed and pierced teenager. That co-worker who is the life of the party - or the one with her head down, eating by herself in the cafeteria. Are you listening? Do you notice?

I wonder how many stories we have missed because we haven't been listening? I wonder how many opportunities? The world IS listening. False teachers ARE listening. Too many Christians are not. There is an old saying - "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It's simple, but to the point. We talk about world evangelism. We talk about deliberate evangelism. We talk about holy living. We talk about everything under the sun. But we don't listen. We don't notice the very people that we are charged with telling the glorious news of the gospel. We have missed it.

There is no doubt that we must earnestly contend for the faith. There is no doubt that we should strive lawfully. There is no doubt that lines must be drawn. I am not for weak, anemic Christianity that just seeks to fit in. But this is not about fitting in or rubbing shoulders or compromise. It's not about condoning sin or watering down the gospel. It's not about giving the world a religious imitation of itself. It's about actually listening to what people are saying - and what they are not saying. It's about hearing between the lines.

People everywhere are crying out for something, anything to help in their time of need. The world listens and gives them booze, drugs, and fornication. The false teachers notice and give them a watered religion instead of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the answer - we KNOW the ANSWER! His name is Jesus. They need who we've got!

But when they cry out for whatever it is they think they need - are you listening? Do you notice?

Do I?