“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. (Matthew 5:33-34, The Message)
Recently, I was driving down one of our city boulevards and was passed by a car in the next lane. As the car passed, I noticed a bumper sticker on the trunk that read, “Please Be Patient. New Driver.” A half-mile or so up the road, the other car was slow accelerating after being stopped at a red light. I passed the car on my passenger side and noticede that the “new driver” was a young guy who was staring at the screen of his cell phone as he picked up speed again. (Since January, in Colorado, it is against the law to drive while holding a cell phone in your hand.
I thought to myself, “Am I to be patient because he is a new driver, or because of his distracted state due to his cell phone?” Would they not have covered this in his driver’s training class?
It is a simple form of communicating mixed messages. Kind of like parking in a handicapped parking space and, just in case someone was looking, hobbling inside the mall before racing up and down the corridors. Our words and actions are often from two different hemispheres.
I think of business slogans…you know, the heart and soul of a company, what defines them…and the opposite vibe so many of their employees display. Perhaps we have evolved into a culture that says things it doesn’t mean, and does things it won’t say.
I stand convicted myself. My bumper sticker might read, “Follower of Jesus, Now Get Out of My Way!” Or, “I’m a Pastor. Leave Me Alone!” I mix my messages up, confusing body language signals with sympathetic verbiage, and applauding someone else’s recognition when jealousy drips out of my emotions.
Some of my mixed messages are only apparent to me because I am outwardly saying what inwardly I’m NOT thinking. They say that actions speak louder than words but thoughts show that we’re all guilty.
Jesus, help each one of us to live what we say; to love who we say we love; and to pray for who we say we will pray for. Amen.
Words from WW Blog 