Listen to God. Listen to People.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks describes Judaism as a religion of hearing[i]. The Torah was meant to be read out loud. And the Shema begins with a call to listen:

Hear, O Israel.

Listen. There is something profound here. The life of faith is not primarily about talking. It is about listening. And it is a dual listening.

We listen to the voice of God as he speaks through nature, through his Word, and through history. But we are also to listen to people. We listen to the cries of the poor, the sick, the homeless, the displaced, the forgotten.

We listen to God. We listen to people. And then we act.

Jesus makes this very practical. When he describes what genuine discipleship looks like, he points us toward the least, the lost and the lowliest.

Did you see them?

Did you hear them?

Did you respond?

Faith is not only about what we believe. It is also about whom we hear—and what we do with what we hear.

We cannot help everybody

As we steward our time, talents and treasures, we constantly need to listen to God and to the needs of the world. And the world is big. Very big.

There are eight billion people. There are endless needs. There are crises everywhere. We cannot help everybody. That is not an excuse to do less. But we should always help somebody.

It is a call to do what we can, where we can, with what God has entrusted to us.

Rabbi Sacks writes that “if you save yourself while doing nothing to save the world, you do not even save yourself.”

The Christian life was never meant to be a survival project. It is a calling to love God and to love people.

An order of love

St. Augustine spoke about Ordo Amoris—the order of love[ii]. We have different responsibilities. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. But that does not mean that we have exactly the same responsibility toward every person on the planet. We cannot. God has entrusted particular people to our care.

Our spouse.

Our children.

Our extended family.

Our community.

Our city.

Our nation.

There is a special responsibility toward those who are near. But—and this is important—that must never become an excuse to ignore those who are far away. Near does not cancel far.

Our responsibility toward those close to us does not free us from responsibility toward those from other countries, other ethnic groups or other religions.

Love has an order. But love has no borders.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria—and the ends of the earth

Jesus never said: “Fix Jerusalem first.”

He never said: “Once everything is sorted out here, once Jerusalem has reached total human flourishing, then you can think about Judea.”

Nor did he say: “After Judea is fixed, perhaps you can consider Samaria.”

And certainly not: “If you ever get around to it, you might think about the ends of the earth.”

No. The calling was always bigger than that. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth belong together. Parallel responsibilities. Near and far. Local and global. Here and there.

We do not have to choose between them. Yes, we love God. Yes, we love people. Yes, we have a special responsibility for those who are near. But that does not make us free from responsibility toward those who are far away.

Listen before you invest

This matters not only for how we live. It also matters for how we invest. Where do we put our time, talents and treasures? Before we answer those questions, perhaps we need to listen.

Listen to God.

Listen to people.

Listen to the cries for justice and mercy.

Listen to the needs around us, near and afar.

And listen to the opportunities beyond us.

Then ask: What is God inviting me to do?

The Great Commission is not an optional appendix to Christian life. We are also called to make Christ known and to serve people among all nations. That means our stewardship cannot be shaped only by what is convenient, familiar or close to home. We need a bigger horizon. A kingdom horizon. A world horizon.

And perhaps it begins with something very simple:

Stop.

Listen.

Listen to God.

Listen to people.

And then walk with them.

Meet various needs, also through business and investments.

Make Christ known.

Keep listening!

Mats Tunehag

[i] Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

[ii] An article which gives an introduction to ‘Ordo Amoris’, a concept embraced by both Catholics and Protestants. Also relates to a recent public discourse: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/augustine-ordo-amoris-immigration/