Communication

Communication.

Is it wrong to call communication a type of ministry? I don't mean proclamation or teaching - I mean basic information transfer -- such as "Hey, we're having a luncheon after the bazaar on Wednesday -- be sure and come."

What would happen if Steve and I didn't communicate regarding the plans over the holidays? He knows when his parents are coming to our house, when his brother and his family are coming over, when we're headed out to other places. I know the same thing about my side of the family. What if we never communicated? What would happen? Chaos. There are time in a church when communication just doesn't happen. Committee chairman fail to talk to each other. No one keeps the congregation informed. Just a general failure to communicate.

Our older son, who is a teenager, ordered dinner tonight. The waitress just looked at him, unable to understand what was being said. He mumbled. Sometimes in a church we mumble at each other. We speak so softly and with such a muted tone, that no one can hear us. It's an attempt at communication, but it doesn't get the job done.

Take a look at the image to the left. It's a sign from a town not far from here. What does it mean? Does it mean that no one must fail to hang signs on the pole? Or does it mean that no one is allowed to hang signs on the pole. Somestimes in church life we think we are communicating when really we are tranferring incorrect or misleading information.

These are only three examples -- I'm sure that there are more. Sometimes we just fail to communicate all. Sometimes we just quietly mumble, and then get upset when no one is listening. Sometimes, we can be heard, but we are providing the wrong information. Effective communication -- making sure that the members of the Body of Christ are connected with each other IS ministry. Without it, much of the rest of the church's ministry will be ineffective. If we don't talk to each other, if we don't maintain connections, then the "job" just will not get done at all.