Miscommunication Happens [Devotional]

Devotions ChopChop ^ | January 17, 2009 | Dave Miller (tenger)

[tenger]

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. "By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So Naaman left, taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6000 shekels of gold and 10 sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!" 2 Kings 5:4-7

The king of Israel had misunderstood what the king of Aram was telling him. We deal with miscommunication nearly every day of our lives. He said something that she didn't like but it wasn't exactly what he had said really. She had misinterpreted body language or tone, or perhaps the words didn't flow out of his mouth as fluently as it should have. Feelings get hurt and harsh words get said.

E-mail is another form of communication that is often misinterpreted and misunderstood. We write things in ways that make formal typewritten letters seem archaic and old-fashioned. Or how about that e-mail that was sent before it was finished or even it was sent to the wrong recipient because the names were side by side in the address list.

In fact, just before I wrote this, I rechecked an email I sent because I happen to know two Franks and I wanted to be sure that the e-mail was sent to Frank1 because Frank2 might have been hurt if he had read what I had written about the organization we're all in together.

So here are a few practical tips we need to employ regularly when communicating with others:

• Be sure you understand what is being discussed or asked of you.
• Take your time in communicating your thoughts and ask for immediate feedback that what you had said was understood ("is that making sense to you?").
• In e-mails write to be understood not to be cute.
• Jokes are often misunderstood in e-mails. If you are ever in doubt about whether something will not be perceived as humorous, use the colon, right parenthesis for a smiley face :) The alternative is to remove the questionable remarks completely.
• Lastly, have a 3rd party bystander read your e-mail for clarity and tone. You'd be surprised at what you're communicating through e-mails.

[Smokin' Joe]

Cell phones a ay or it.

Great way to c m u i a te!