{"id":723610,"date":"2020-10-20T02:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T06:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=723610"},"modified":"2020-10-14T19:49:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T23:49:27","slug":"8-reasons-its-tough-for-some-folks-to-hear-us-when-we-preach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/8-reasons-its-tough-for-some-folks-to-hear-us-when-we-preach\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Reasons It\u2019s Tough for Some Folks to Hear Us When We Preach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not everyone listens to us when we preach, even when we\u2019re in the same room. Here are some reasons some people struggle to listen:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Something\u2019s happened during the week that\u2019s captured all their attention.<\/b> It\u2019s usually a difficulty, and it\u2019s usually something that consumes their mind so much it\u2019s tough to hear anything else. I think particularly of family and work issues.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. They\u2019re typically so busy that just sitting still for any length of time\u2014much less listening\u2014is hard.<\/b> Frankly, I\u2019m one of those persons. I have to make myself listen, and it\u2019s seldom easy.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Distractions in the worship service have already diverted their attention. <\/b>The distraction can be anything, especially as the enemy wants people <\/span>not <\/span><\/i>to hear the Word (see #8 below). Anything from a cold room temperature to a crackling sound system to a crying baby or a sleeping adult can turn our attention elsewhere.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. In some cases, we\u2019ve hurt them in the past (or, at least that\u2019s their perception), and they\u2019ve never moved beyond that.<\/b> They still come to church because it\u2019s their church, but they find it hard to listen to us without remembering yesterday\u2019s situation.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Sometimes we\u2019re boring.<\/b> The problem is that we usually don\u2019t recognize it, and few people are honest enough to tell us. They love us as their pastor. They wouldn\u2019t want to hurt us\u2014so they tolerate boredom but don\u2019t listen.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. They\u2019re frustrated with the music part of the worship service.<\/b> In some cases, they cling to their personal preferences and create division; in other cases, the music portion of the service really isn\u2019t good. In either case, it\u2019s hard to redirect their attention to the preaching.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. We give meaty content with no application<\/b>. That is, our listeners can recognize we\u2019ve studied, and they\u2019ll talk about how knowledgeable their preacher is\u2014but they don\u2019t expect to hear anything they can readily apply to their lives.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Satan and his forces are snatching the Word from them<\/b>. Jesus warned us that would happen (Mark 4:15). Satan\u2019s snatching the entire time we\u2019re sowing. For that reason, I encourage preachers to help listeners know what the enemy\u2019s doing\u2014and challenge them to listen more intentionally.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What reasons would you add?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not everyone listens to us when we preach, even when we\u2019re in the same room. Here are some reasons some people struggle to listen.","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":723611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[183,178,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-723610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communications","category-membership-and-assimilation","category-outreach-and-evangelism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n8 Reasons It\u2019s Tough for Some Folks to Hear Us When We Preach | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not everyone listens to us when we preach, even when we\u2019re in the same room. 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