Allow God to transform you.

Here is another quote from Dallas Willard's book, Divine Conspiracy, p. 112

We must recognize, first of all, that the aim of the popular teacher in Jesus’ time was not to impart information, but to make a significant change in the lives of the hearers. Of course that may require an information transfer, but it is a peculiarly modern notion that the aim of teaching is to bring people to know things that may have no effect at all on their lives.

This concurs with one of my main goals in preaching which is that it should be transformational, not just informational. (See 2 Timothy 3:16) Hopefully, as I have studied the Bible and I have listened to the Spirit of God as He has spoken through the written Word, then the information will reveal more about the nature of God, humanity and the world.  I attempt to use the gifts that God have given me, to develop a message that helps to bridge the gap, between the message and the hearer. Finally, as the hearers are open not just to be entertained or informed, but to hear from God, then His message will impact their hearts causing them to reflect upon what He is saying to them and in fact changing their attitudes and actions.

My encouragement to others and myself is to be open to a transformational message from God when listening to someone else preach, reading the Word or reading another book by another Christian. The delivery of the message may not always be exciting, but our attitudes as hearer/readers can make the difference between just taking in information and being changed by the message because you have really connected with God in that moment.