“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15 KJV)
He that hath ears, let him/her hear, but go beyond hearing and move all the way to doing, as soon as possible.
You see, regardless of how dynamic the speaker might have been, in spite of the new generation, media technology used in the preacher’s presentation, and even if the notes you took amounted to pages, the fact is that the amount of information that the listening congregation will retain is typically somewhere between 10% 20 % according to some behavioral scientist. That’s interesting, isn’t it? Now, The percentage goes up when the individual listeners reviews their notes, at a minimum. The percentage goes even higher when what you have listened to and read is put into practice or used immediately. Yes, the saying is still true, “To do is to learn.” Another technique is to take one’s notes and go back to the focal text for the sermon and reinforce or verify the points you have noted. It is not enough to write the notes and never look at them again, for as time passes, our retention goes down. Sure, you remember one or two main points from the message. Surely you can share the topic that was preached on. Certainly the Holy Spirit will help you bring things to remembrance over time. But let’s admit it. If we don’t review the message immediately, repeat what we heard as early as on the ride home, or if we don’t use or apply our newly gained or reinforced knowledge immediately, we lose a lot of what the Lord specifically sent to us via the sermon spoken by His specific messenger. While we will be more spiritually alert and reminded to be God-conscious, and leave the church house more committed to living holy and right, the specificity of the special sent message will possibly be lost.
I know all what you just read does not come to a shock to you. You have heard your teachers and professors sing the same song when it came to listening and the need pay attention and to take notes. The question is, what can we do? In the paragraph above I already mentioned the value of reviewing what you heard, the value of verbal repeating that which was heard, or how the practice of what was heard will be helpful. Certainly, we can go back to the text and study to show ourselves approved. But is there anything else we can do?
Yes, we are blessed in this new age of technology. Many church services are recorded, and you can listen to the sermon again to increase your retention. That’s what my spouse does. Let me tell you the story, quickly. Lately, since she learned how to project the social media recording of the service on the big screen TV, I hear her listening to something in one room and go to see what she is watching. It is the service from Sunday. She has her notebook out and she amends her notes, adding to them as she is listening. She does not listen to it just once, but more times throughout the day and the next day and the next day. Nonchalantly I ask, “Are you listening to that again?” Her response is, “Yes. I want to make sure I understand every point and establish a goal of putting what I hear into action.” This is not a one-time thing that she does. Yesterday, I stopped to pick up dinner on the way home from church, and what do I hear when I walk in the house? I hear her listening to the morning service again. We even ate dinner in the TV room so I could listen to it too.
Now you don’t have to use her technique, but it goes without saying that our retention of what we heard yesterday will increase if we, at a minimum, revisit the message at least one more time. If our retention increases, the real-life application of what we heard will take place. And thus the world will be better! Sorry about the long read! Have a great Monday! Be blessed!
“Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God. And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they fall away. And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with perseverance.” (Luke 4:11-15 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King