Would you rather have a god who always listens, or one who always speaks?
Such is a question asked by Daniel Nayeri in his book Everything Sad is Untrue, and it’s one which has lingered far beyond the final page. He goes on to make the point that neither is really what we want. A god who always listens allows our natural selfishness to run rampant, and a god who only speaks is one of law and justice only, without mercy or love. “Love is empty without justice. Justice is cruel without love……If a god [isn’t both], that is no God.”
He has a good point, and it’s one well worth considering for a little longer, not only in the abstract and theoretical, but also in the more definite and personal, because we do have a God who both listens and speaks. He listens in love to the cares, laments, praises, and exultations of His people, but also speaks to them of how they are to live, justice and steadfast love intertwined, neither cruel nor empty.
This also has implications for how we live our lives. Made in the likeness of God, we bear His image, both in our bodies and through our words and actions, in a dark, sin-stained world. Though there are some aspects in which there truly is none like Him, it is equally true that there are aspects in which we are meant to emulate Him, however imperfectly. I think this is one of the latter. We are not meant to live in silent relationship with others, listening impassively or even in wordless compassion. Neither does Scripture provide us with any examples of anyone in the early church, whether leaders or lay people, only speaking to fellow mankind, Christians and pagans alike. We see the two sides held in tension, in balance. The pattern we see – in the priests and the prophets, in the apostles, in interactions between ordinary people, in Jesus Himself, and in the Father as well – is one of listening and speaking by turns.
Naturally, I think we’re each drawn to one aspect more than the other; it probably wouldn’t take more than a couple seconds for you to identify whether you are more inclined to listen in love or speak the law to those around you. The way of wisdom calls, I think, for reflection and discretion to know when each is called for. It’s not easy – the way of the Lord rarely is – but it’s an important way in which we can reflect the character of the Lord.