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Sermon Illustrations: Listening To God / To Others

When they gave out brains, I thought they said trains and I missed mine. When they passed out looks, I thought they said books and I said I didn't want any. When they passed out noses, I thought they said roses and I ordered a big red one. When they gave out chins, I thought they said gins, and I ordered a double. Boy! Am I a mess!

A highly successful insurance salesman was addressing an insurance brokers' convention to tell them the secrets of his success. He told them about some advice a successful friend had given him. "You can get a man to do anything you want him to, if you only listen to him long enough. So, when I go and talk to someone, I listen to them. And after I've listened to them long enough, I simply say, 'Okay why don't you just sign right here?' And they do it. When you've asked them enough questions and listened to them long enough, it's your turn to speak, and all you do is ask for their signature."¹

The word "listen" contains the same letters as "silent". Alfred Brendel

Henry Kaiser, who built a vast industrial empire in the early 1900s, had this to say about his business organisation: "I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than I am - and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am."²

Bertrand Russell is reputed to have said that one reason Hitler lost World War 2 was that he did not fully understand the situation. Bearers of bad news were punished. Soon no one dared tell him the truth. Not knowing the truth, he could not act appropriately.

1 Cole, Edwin Louis Maximised Manhood p 145
2 Ministry Advantage, Developing Leaders & Teams p 18