Communication.
When Christ knelt down and scribbled in the dirt with His finger (John 8:6), He was communicating. Not by His words, for He was silent. Not by what He wrote (though I'd love to know what it was!). He communicated by His posture, His expression, His actions. He said something. Loud and clear.
The same is true for us. Everything we do (or don't do!) says something. Every expression, every tone of voice, every posture and stance . . . they all say something. Ask yourself this: Are you saying something Christ would say?
Every word--spoken, written, typed, or even thought. Would Christ speak them?
Every blog. Every comment. Every post on social media. What does God think?
Communication is an unending river.
Communication never stops. Verbal and non-verbal. Intentional and unintentional. Direct, indirect, first person, second, third. Visual. Verbal. Tactile.
Communication is constant. Silence speaks volumes. Appearances matter, whether they should or not. Blink at the wrong time, and the deal's dead. Stare too long and it's over. Timber, pitch, volume, duration are the difference between success and failure. Simple words make you sound like an idiot. Fancy words will label you as out of touch.
The majority of communication is non-verbal. Posture, expression, where and how you stand or sit, tone, eye contact . . .
It's a wonder we can process all of this. But we do. Very efficiently. So efficiently, in fact, that we don't even know we're doing it.
It happens here, too.
You would think written communication would be less complicated. Wrong. Similar rules apply here. Word choice. Sentence length and structure. Visuals. Punctuation. Accents. The list goes on.
So what?
None of this is new. Or, perhaps, particularly interesting or insightful. But it does matter.
In every situation, whether you intend to or not, you are communicating. The question is, what are you communicating? Would Christ approve?
Some final thoughts, from the one source of communication we can always trust.
Proverbs 10:19--When words are many, sin is not absent.
Ecclesiastes 5:6--Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.
Psalm 12:6--The words of the Lord are flawless.
You can stop reading here, or you can continue on, and see what'Whats happening in the life of our friend, Christian.
Christian sighed as he considered the task ahead. He'd been down this road before. You meet with someone, exchange pleasantries, shake hands or maybe accept a short embrace. Sometimes you sit down, but not always. It doesn't matter. Small talk comes first. Then awkward silence. The time has come.
You clear your throat nervously. They make eye contact, give an encouraging smile. You think you're going to be listened to. You think the person on the other side cares about what you have to say. You think . . . Then you realize.
They don't want to listen. They don't want to hear. They want to tell.
He sighed. It didn't matter. Whether they listened or not was on them. All he could do, all he had to do, was tell them.
The room was dimly lit and dingy. Walls stained a dirty brown spoke of by-gone years filled with chain smokers and poor ventilation. The old tile floor wasn't dirty, really, but no amount of Mr Clean and elbow grease would ever be able to remove the ground-in grime.
This was where truth came to die. Lies, deceit, and rumors were the rule of the day in this place. Communication? Oh yeah, communication abounded. But none of it was truth.
He was here to change that.
He'd not been in a place like this for a long time. Not since he'd changed. He didn't think he belonged here anymore. Or at least he used to think that. Now he knew better. Now he knew this was exactly where he should be. If any place needed light, this was it.
Redeemer would have been here. No doubt about it. He used to go to places just like this. And they gave Him a hard time about it. If Redeemer did it, and the world hated it, it was right.
Christian took a deep breath, relaxed his shoulders, and smiled. Somewhere in the crowded room was someone he needed to talk to. He didn't know who yet, but he would. And he didn't know if they would listen. But he couldn't worry about that. All he had to do was be obedient. God would take care of the rest.
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