The pastor’s sermon this morning was about listening to the Good
Shepherd (Jesus) in the midst of the cacophony of different voices in
the world, some of them telling us to do what is wrong.
I agree with my pastor on the cacophony of voices. They are out
there. What pleases one person may not please another person. The way
that one person may want me to live is different from how another person
thinks I should live.
I question, however, whether listening to the Good Shepherd helps,
since there are so many ideas (some of them contradictory) about what
the Good Shepherd wants.
So do I just go with what floats my boat? If that’s the case, how
can I be corrected? Well, I’m not particularly worried about whether I
will be “corrected” or not. But I should listen to different
ideas—-even ones that go against my grain—-because I need guidance as to
what life is like and how I should go through it. Life does not always
(or even often) proceed according to what floats my boat, and that
means I have to listen to some things that I may not want to hear, if I
am to be successful.
But there are also times—-maybe a lot of times—-when I need to
retreat from the cacophony of voices, sit in silence, and determine what
is right for me to do, perhaps with God’s guidance.
See here (and the comments underneath the post) and also here for other people’s thoughts on this sort of issue.