In explaining my podcast title, allow me to highlight two things.
First that I realize I’m on earth for one double tiered reason. The bottom or supporting tier is to be always walking in friendship with Jesus. That means sharing all of myself with him and in turn seeking to receive all that he would share of himself with me. The second tier has to do with extending the offer of that same friendship to others by coworking with him in what he’s doing in their lives.
It is in this all-important cooperative that I’m trying to practice shutting up. This is because there is ultimately only one way to help others. It is to pay such close attention to Jesus that we end up doing only what we see or hear him doing or saying. That is the arrangement for working with him. He is always at his work and his work — what he is saying and doing — alone is transforming. Nothing I think, say, or do, is going to effect any spiritually profitable change whatsoever in anyone else. Zero.
So how do we pick up on what Jesus is, in fact, saying or doing in someone else’s life?
Several things come to mind.
First comes listening to others. By that I mean what could be called immersive listening — listening so carefully that we momentarily look at life through that person’s eyes.
Next comes a prayer that says, “Lord, help me pick up on what you want me to understand of this person’s situation right now and how you’d like me to respond.”
Couple that with a total silence within oneself. This is where telling myself to “shut up!” comes into play.
As you listen something — information — will suddenly emerge within that silence. It may be a comment or a question, but to act on it, I suggest, is to share in what Jesus is doing. What you do becomes one with what he is doing and it will always bear fruit.
