Imagine you’re driving down the road and pass a sign with this warning: “Don’t Go Into the Box Unless the Wayout is Clear.” Would you know what it meant?
An English driver would know that means she shouldn’t block the intersection.
Or say you stopped for directions, and an Englishman replied: “Take the dual carriageway to the first roundabout, keeping a sharp eye for the left-coming signs. Take the wayout just beyond the first flyover after you pass the car park next to the petrol station. Beware of the loose chippings and the crown strollers. Follow the road diversion and make sure you by-pass the road-up. If your motor car breaks down, you can use the lay-by or any of the verges to look under your bonnet.”
You would probably leave that conversation mumbling something to your wife about why you never stop for directions!
Again, the conversation makes perfect sense in Great Britain. A dual carriageway is a divided highway; a roundabout is a traffic circle; a wayout is an exit; a flyover is an overpass; a car park is a parking lot; a petrol station is a gas station; loose chippings are fallen rocks, and crown strollers are slow-moving road hogs; a road diversion is a detour, and road-up is a road under repair; a lay-by is a place to pull off the road, verges are road shoulders, and a bonnet is the hood of your car.
Got it?
Sometimes we think we’re communicating just because words are being spoken. Real communication involves more.
In Joshua 22, a war was about to break out between Israel’s western tribes and eastern tribes. It was all because the eastern tribes failed to communicate their intentions adequately, and the western tribes jumped to false conclusions about the matter without inquiring and listening.
This Sunday, I’m going to talk about five “hearing aids” and five “megaphones” that will help in our relationships. Join us on campus or online at 10am!
Tom
If you want to review the first three installments in the “Getting Along” series, go to our “Sermons” page, or our YouTube channel or our podcast.
Tom Goodman serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter. If someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, sign up here to receive Tom’s weekly devotional in your email inbox.