CONNECT. DISCONNECT.
(8-minute read)
Smart phone applications have become so crucial that we feel handicapped when they are not within reach. These applications enable us to book personal transport before we step out of the house, navigate our drive as we get into the car, have simultaneous conversations with different people, and juggle a million things on the fly without actually speaking or interacting with any person.
These days, it is not uncommon to find people everywhere with their heads down studying the tiny screens in their palms. From banking transactions, window-shopping online, checking and responding to emails, texting, consuming entertainment, using social media to taking Zoom calls, we never know who is doing what on their smartphones but everyone is preoccupied and disconnected from people and their surroundings.
Of late, renowned speaker, Esther Perel, has been talking about loneliness masked in hyper-connectivity, arguing also that we are seduced into 'artificial intimacy' or pseudo connection with people. We may have an impressive number of virtual friends but nobody to feed our pet or pick up our prescription at the pharmacy.
How about our relationship with Jesus today? We identify as Christians, ready to pray when there is a need, keep a mental list of Scripture for emergency use, wear attire and jewelry with religious symbols, and punctuate our conversations with ‘so blessed’, ‘God is good’ and ‘Amen’ while leaving much unsaid in ambiguity. Are these all part of a pseudo connection with Jesus, too?
Being spiritually well-connected with God is something that cannot be over-emphasized. Jesus spoke about the importance of staying connected with Him like our lives depended on it. In fact, He compared it to a physical connection like branches to vine, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). Imagine installing a ceiling chandelier without wiring, running a car without gasoline, or a using smartphone with a dead battery. It does not matter how great these products are designed to be, they will never serve their intended purpose.
What was Jesus alluding to? He was talking about “the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you…” (John 14:17 NLT).
The Holy Spirit reveals to us what Jesus really sees, hears and senses. When we wholeheartedly stay connected with Jesus, our lives will look considerably and noticeably different in three ways:
JESUS SEES – BUT DO YOU SEE?
Jesus sees beyond the natural and the ordinary. On the contrary, we have a tendency to resort to simplistic and superficial reading of situations in other people’s lives to reduce the severity of their distress and minimize our own involvement. Jesus, on the other hand, had the habit of walking right into messy lives.
Upon entering Jericho, He stepped into the spot where a notorious tax collector named Zacchaeus had perched himself overhead on a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus because he was eclipsed by the crowd that had gathered. Without hesitation, Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus home (Luke 19:1-10). Another day, He was passing through Samaria at midday when respectable people would stay indoors. He found a well because He was thirsty and approached a solitary Samaritan woman there who was known to have a string of relationships with men (John 4:4-15). On another occasion when He entered the town of Nain, a widow at the funeral procession of her only son passed by and “His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.” He then proceeded to raise the young man who had died and “gave him back to his mother” (Luke 7:11-17).
When Jesus looked at people, He saw beyond convenient labels – crook, scoundrel, loose woman, poor widow. He saw conflicted emotions, hidden pain and private shame. He saw humans just as they were and how they were experiencing life. He saw those who were alienated, marginalized and always on the outside looking in. He spoke as easily with men as He did with women; and felt at home both with important people and ordinary people.
The Bible shows us that Jesus was always on the move. He “entered Jericho and was passing through” (Luke 19:1). “Now he had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). He intercepted a funeral procession (Luke 7:14). By ‘disrupting’ their normal lives and events, Jesus brought salvation to Zaccheus household; restored dignity and the right identity to a despised woman; and gave a widow a new future with her young adult son, saving her from living in utter solitude way before her time.
If Jesus was capable of seeing so much in humanity, why is it that our understanding of people is often so obscure and unenlightened? Maybe our existing priorities and problems just don’t allow any spare time and resources for others. But unless we decide to live hermit-like lives, these are not excuses for believers. It is clear to see that Jesus was an expert in the art of running into people and being fully present with them. There is no reason why we are not also doing the same. Just ask Him to show you His guide posts to locate specific individuals around you who need company, encouragement or prayer. You will begin to see more sharply - beyond the routine and rituals of everyday life - the opportunities that had always been around.
JESUS HEARS – DO YOU HEAR?
In the frenzy of our fast-paced life, we are all inundated with emails, text messages, calendar reminders and calls that need our attention. Most include a call to action: ‘buy now’, ‘read more’, ‘before EBD’, ‘call’, ‘join us’. We ‘hear’ only the loudest demands that grab or hijack our attention. Instinctively, the ability to respond with immediacy becomes a sign of our efficacy and being in control. Or are we really being controlled instead?
In the process, we fall deaf to silent cries for help, unspoken desires, quiet grief and wordless suffering. We cannot pretend that what we do not hear do not exist. Therefore, we need the Holy Spirit to filter out all the sounds and voices that compete for our attention and preoccupation so we can hear His call to action each day.
Jesus often had expectant crowds clamoring for His attention. In the chaos and cacophony of the public sphere, Jesus’s ears were highly attuned to the individual voices of the weak and marginalized. He heard the irrepressible cries of blind Bartimaeus that others around tried to silence. “When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” The man told the Lord, “I want to see!” and received his sight instantly.” (Mark 10:46-52).
Threading His way through another crushing crowd, Jesus overheard a messenger telling Jairus, a religious leader, that his daughter had taken her final breath at home and there was no use getting Jesus to her. Immediately, He turned to Jairus and said, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.” (Luke 8:49-50). Later, at Jairus’ house, Jesus silenced the loud ‘weeping and wailing’ among the crowd gathered there, and gave the girl back her life and her future (Luke 8:51-56).
The Lord was similarly all ears when He engaged the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:16-26). In nothing short of a riveting chat with Him, she found – not another man of her dreams – but the Messiah for all Gentiles (non-Jews)!
What do you hear daily beyond your own voice of self-assurance? How often do you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit directing and correcting you? Jesus is all ears when we speak to Him, but are you all ears when He speaks? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to elaborate when He points you to a Word? Do you engage the Holy Spirit in conversation and listen attentively to Him when He reveals the truth to you?
Giving someone a listening ear can only be done in person. How can a comforting whisper or an empathetic tear be texted?
Beyond listening in the natural, listen to the Holy Spirit who enables us to deliver greater comfort and deeper truth to each other in love.
JESUS SENSES – DO YOU SENSE?
When we are spiritually well-connected to Jesus, there will be a greater sensing of the activity and move of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit ‘advocate’ - which means comforter, encourager, counsellor (John 14:16). The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as the Wonderful Counsellor, the Spirit of Wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, the Spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:2). The Holy Spirit is highly perceptive of people and situations, and deeply incisive in what He reveals to us. He is an expert in reading the room accurately, assessing the situation, feeling out the crowd, and interpreting what’s really being said.
How is it that we often seem to be in the dark, uninformed, unenlightened and even out of touch? We do not need to have the training of psychotherapists to walk a mile in someone’s shoes but we can ask the Holy Spirit to teach us. When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual sensitivity, we speak differently, pray differently and nurture relationships differently. Jesus did not just heal or speak with people, He sensed their deeper, unspoken needs.
A woman with an unknown and untreatable illness hidden in a pressing crowd surreptitiously touched Jesus’ garment and He felt it in His Spirit. He stopped to look for her and caught her faith in action. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mark 5:24-34)
Imagine seeing as Jesus sees, hearing as He hears and sensing like He senses simply because ‘in Him, we live, move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28). Talk about being powered up to live the life we are designed for!
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 27 April 2024
