Are You Really Hearing It? The Difference Between Listening and Responding
Have you ever had a doctor tell you exactly what needed to change — and then walked out and changed nothing? That tension between knowing and doing is exactly what James was talking about, and honestly, it's one of the most uncomfortable passages in the entire Bible.
This past Sunday, we wrapped up our six-week series on spiritual health, and I want to share the heart of where we landed — because I think it might be the most important question the whole series has been building toward.
The Hearing Test vs. The Discipleship Test
I opened the message by talking about hearing exams. You know the ones — giant earmuffs, a series of beeps, and the pressure of trying to figure out if you actually heard something or just convinced yourself you did. The whole test revolves around one question: Can you hear it?
But as we got into James chapter one, I realized James is asking a completely different question. Not can you hear it? but what did you do with what you heard?
Here's what James writes in James 1:22-25:
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts — he will be blessed in his doing."
James is mean. I'll just say it. But he's mean in the way that a good doctor is mean — he tells you the truth even when it's uncomfortable.
Samuel Heard the Right Voice but Ran to the Wrong Place
To help us understand what James is getting at, I told the story of young Samuel from 1 Samuel 3. Samuel kept hearing his name called in the night. Every time, he ran straight to Eli, his mentor and priest. And every time, Eli told him, "I didn't call you. Go back to sleep."
Here's what I want you to notice: Samuel wasn't having trouble hearing. He heard perfectly. He woke up, jumped to his feet, and responded immediately — every single time. His problem wasn't his ears. His problem was he didn't yet know how to respond to what he was hearing.
We can hear the right things and still run to the wrong places.
Eventually, Eli understood what was happening and gave Samuel the most important instruction of his young life: "Go, lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.'"
What Samuel said next stopped me in my tracks. Before he knew what God was going to ask. Before he heard the message. Before he had any idea what it would cost him — he settled something in his heart. Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.
That's not just listening. That's a posture. A settled orientation of the heart that says: You are God. I am your servant. Whatever you say, I'm ready to receive it and respond.
The Mirror You Look Into — and Then Leave
James gives us two kinds of people. The first looks in the mirror, sees something that needs to change, and then walks away and forgets. The second looks in the mirror and stays — stays until something actually changes.
For six weeks, we've been holding up a mirror together. God's Word has been showing us places where we've drifted, areas where other things have been winning our hearts, moments where we've been surviving on our own instead of breathing together as a community.
And now we've reached the part of the doctor's visit where you get the report. The doctor can tell you everything that needs to change. But he can't make you change it. That part is up to you.
If what has gone into your ears has not yet gotten into your life, you have not finished hearing it yet.
Obedience Is a Response, Not a Price Tag
Before I close, I want to be clear about something important — because James can be misread. He is not telling you to do more so that God will love you more. Obedience is not the price of following Jesus. It's the response of someone who already follows him.
Christianity doesn't begin with our response to Jesus. It begins with Jesus' response to us. As 1 John 4 reminds us, he loved us first. He lived the life we couldn't live. He died for our sins. He rose from the grave. And because of that, we are brought into God's family by grace through faith — not by our own performance.
God's Word, as James calls it, is "the perfect law of liberty." It's not a prison. It's an invitation into the life we were actually made for. As Jesus himself said, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the fullest."
It's Time to Respond
card — a life oriented toward saying, Yes, Lord. You are God. I am your servant. Speak, and I will listen.
As we move forward as a church, I want to invite you to take a concrete next step. We're growing — which is a beautiful problem to have — and we're adding a second service to make room for more people. That means we need more people to step up and serve. We need people to commit to a worship service and a serve team. We need all of us to move from hearing this vision to actually receiving it and responding.
And if today is the first time you're really hearing about Jesus — not just as a story, but as someone you could trust with your whole life — then your first next step is the simplest one: just say yes. Yes, I trust Jesus.
Whatever your next step is, take it. Don't just look in the mirror and walk away.
Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): There's a big difference between hearing something and actually receiving it. James says if what has gone into your ears hasn't gotten into your life yet — you haven't finished hearing it. This week's message will challenge the way you think about listening, responding, and what it really means to follow Jesus. Link in bio to read the full recap. 👇
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