Deeper Reflection
IN HIS 1937 CLASSIC, “HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE People”, Dale Carnegie gave this advice: “you can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”⁹ Listening attentively and sincerely is essential to relationship-building. In our digital age, many of us have lost the art of listening, for we are glued to our devices and drowned in a world of over-stimulation.The Apostle Paul spent time with the Athenians, to know them and their way of life, before presenting the Gospel to them. He conversed with their philosophers and listened to their views (vv.17-18). He studied and understood their religious practices (v.23). And he found a bridge into their culture, a way to connect with the questions that they were concerned about (v.23)! The bridge was the inscription to the unknown god, which Paul used to proclaim to the Athenians the God that they had never known.Listening to and understanding someone else will always require an investment of time and energy. But this is a worthy investment, because the act of listening conveys respect and love. Listening shows that we are willing to take the other person seriously and are genuinely interested in them as people. When we listen to others for the sake of the Gospel, they start to learn that God is genuinely interested in their lives, before we even say a word.

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⁹ “The Digital Age: The First Duty of Love is to Listen”, The Gottman Institute, accessed 12 October 2022, https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-digital-age-the-first-duty-of-love-is-to-listen/ 2022.