That Old Man and Communication
Josh March 12th, 2008
Here’s a comforting thought:
When we get to heaven we will no longer have to be concerned with how our communication (or lack thereof) might be interpreted. Instead, everyone will just *know* what the other person means.
This is not so while on this temporal earth. So now comes the discomforting present reality. Our communication in our present condition is one marred by sin, and one thing we know about sin is that it makes one stupid. I sense a syllogism budding forth:
1. Sin makes you stupid.
2. All people have sinned.
3. We’re all stupid.
O! do I ever know that this describes me with frightful accuracy! For example, a few months back a professing Christian brother strolled over to my blog and stirred the pot by belittling my use of certain older language. There’s no doubt that this was foolishness on his part, for it wasn’t an affirmation of the sentiment found in my blog post. It certainly wasn’t to my edification. Nor did it serve any beneficial purpose whatsoever to anyone. Instead it was a needless, below-the-belt, comment.
And here is where sin came in. I had several options. I could have deleted his comment, ignored his comment, or just politely respond and say, ‘Thanks for your thoughts.’ Is this what I did? No. Why? Because sin makes you stupid. It mars your communication. It makes you lust after defending yourself when it’s not even necessary to do so. I responded to his comment with scorn and sarcasm. I really “showed” him. I even spent time authoring subsequent posts…all to his comment that had the relevance and importance of minutia.
Okay, so it’s one thing to let your communication be driven by that mad dog residue of sin when you’re battling it out with someone who is trying to provoke you in an unChristian manner. However, what happens when you can’t even properly communicate with those whom you love? Do you know how sin has affected my communication in this context? I get impatient. I grow easily irritated. I do not take constructive criticism as such, but instead see it as accusation and belittlement.
I’ll also admit this: Even though I am an intense and passionate person, due to sin’s residue lining the walls of my heart, I don’t take into consideration sometimes that other folks can easily misinterpret my intensity and passion as anger. I don’t even realize it, but in the heat of discussion my volume exponentially increases. Sin stinks. Not only is it (most importantly) treasonous toward the Most High God, but it is damaging to ourselves and our loved ones.
One of the damages that will accompany us in this life is that of miscommunication. I feel like I’m the King of that Failure right now. I’m so glad that God has saved me and will continue to mold me into a better friend and communicator. Until that time, Friends, I ask for your patience, forgiveness, and understanding as I stumble through my most-of-the-time poor conversations, blogposts, letters, etc. I look forward to the day when I can communicate perfectly with each one of you in the presence of God and all His saints. Amen.
To My Best Friend:
You know who you are. Please accept my profound apologies for not being a better respondent in our communication. I have wounds and histories in the past that, combined with indwelling sin, render my communication as coming across very rough and seemingly insensitive. I assure you that I am thankful for our friendship and hope that God, in His mercy, will perpetuate our Christian love for one another into eternity. You remain steadfastly in my thoughts and affections, I suppose I just don’t communicate that very well.
- Family , Friends , Pilgrim's Progress , Theology General
- Comments(1)
Good blog post Josh.
I find communicatio difficulties in my illness and inability in that, one of the most frustrating aspects of it. Often being misunderstood and cuasing offense when none is intended can be the norm at times. And in my inability I then set about to correct how I’ve been misunderstood but because it mostly at times of greater struggles I don’t have the ability to correct how I’ve been misunderstood and in the upset of being so, in trying to, normally manage to cause reoffence in trying to clarify the matter, so it all becomes a vicious cycle. But again, the reasons behind it, sin, are the same, it just goes to a greater level.