Earning the Right to be Heard

Earning the Right to be Heard                                   March 23. 2025

Truth is truth no matter who speaks it.  But the fact remains that people are far more inclined to give truth a fair hearing when the one speaking has earned the right to be heard.  Having exhorted the young preacher Timothy to “be an example to the believers” (I Timothy 4:12), Paul further instructed him to “take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (4:16).  Timothy needed to earn the right to be heard.

Everything Peter said in his first letter about enduring persecutions and trials would be correct even if he had lived the most sheltered and pampered life imaginable.  But the truth is that Peter had earned the right to be heard.  When it came to enduring persecutions and trials, he could say. “Been there, done that!”

Earning the right to be heard applies to congregations as well as to individual Christians.  Brother Rob Whittaker, in his lessons on personal evangelism, teaches how to make the local congregation attractive to the community.  Rather than just talk about loving everyone, what if we showed that love by sending a card to a sick neighbour to let them know we’re praying for them?  What if I sent one today, you send one tomorrow, and another sent one the next day?  What if you a casserole by the house when the neighbour got home from the hospital?  We ought to be doing these things anyway, but think about the impact they would have on a lost soul?

What if we practiced hospitality instead of just talking about it?  What if a visitor to our services couldn’t get out the door without being invited to lunch?  Wouldn’t it be worth the inconvenience and expense to take a first step toward presenting the gospel?

If we expect people to hear and obey the gospel, we must earn the right to be heard!

By Joe Slater