The Problem With English
Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears. – Job 13:17.
“Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.” – John 8:43.
Even the British, experts in the King’s English, can still make mistakes with it. A hospital sign read: Visitors—two to a bed and half-an-hour only. This sign was in a restaurant: Our establishment serves tea in a big bag like mother. A portrait studio advertised: Children shot for Christmas in the home.
Non-English speaking people have special difficulty with the English language. An Istanbul dentist’s sign read: American Dentist, 2nd floor—teeth extracted by latest Methodists. In a Yugoslav hotel a notice stated, “Let us know about any unficiency as well as leaking on the service. Our utmost will improve.” A Taiwan tailor’s sign announced: Ladies can have fits here; and a Leningrad restaurant cloakroom requested: Please hang yourself here. Most amiable was the sign in a Teheran restaurant: Eat the Middle East foods in a European ambulance.
Children easily misunderstand words. A toddler serving as ring bearer stopped every other step as he walked the aisle, curled his lips, and growled—all the way to the altar. After the wedding someone asked him why he had gone through such antics. “They told me I got to be the ring bear,” he replied.
The goal of communication is to express an idea clearly to another. Christians, whose life’s work involves communicating God’s eternal Word, face an awesome challenge. First, we personally need a clear perception of Jesus, then we need a clear statement of that perception expressed in a winsome manner. The classroom, the work place, the pulpit all offer the opportunity to communicate Christ. We need to carefully, articulately, and powerfully seize it.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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