WHAT WE GOT HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

That line, spoken by the villain Strother Martin, stands at Number 11 in the the American Film Institute’s top 100 movie quotations of American cinema’s first century. He said it in a movie that came out in 1967, and people have been repeating it decades later.

OOPS!

A classic failure to communicate happened during Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. It occurred as Mrs. Clinton was planning to finally do what her staff had been begging her to do--go on national television and explain the mushrooming e-mail/private server scandal that was in the process of threatening to bog down and burn down her campaign.

Here's the report of what happened:

"A miscommunication between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her top aide Huma Abedin led to a brutal grilling in her first national TV interview at the beginning of her campaign for president.

"It was May 2015 when her aides wanted to know who Clinton would like to have interview her about the scandal. Communications director Jennifer Palmieri asked Huma Abedin to find out — Abedin told Palmieri "Brianna," which she thought meant CNN anchor Brianna Keilar.

"However, Clinton actually said 'Bianna,' referring to Bianna Golodryga of Yahoo News, married to Peter Orszag who worked for the administration of former President Bill Clinton before becoming budget director for former President Barack Obama.

"By the time the mistake was realized, it was too late to pull back,"

The result was that, instead of a softball interview by the friendly Bianna Golodryga, Brianna Keilar's interviewed turned out to be a brutal grilling that had Mrs. Clinton staring darts at Brianna during the entire ordeal. Oh, the difference one letter can make.

A speaker saying one thing, the listener hearing another.They're talking past each other. That's why books on public speaking advise, "It's not what you say; it's what they hear."

SAY WHAT?

We encounter this failure to communicate when giving the gospel. We say, "Grace," meaning, "unmerited, undeserved favor," the listener thinks, "Peace," "Mercy," "Smooth of movement like a figure skater." We say, "Repentance," meaning, "A change of mind," the listener thinks, "Feel sorry for sin," "Turn your back on sin," Give up sinning," or "Be willing to give up sinning." We say, "Heaven is a free gift," the listener agrees, but illogically thinks, "It's free, but you have to earn it." We say, "Believe" or "Trust," the listener thinks, "There's more."

The New Testament says that one problem the unbeliever has is that he doesn't understand the good news message of faith alone in Christ alone. Like one lady I talked to: She defined grace with its theological definition, right on the money: "Undeserved favor."

She knew the definition, but it had no impact on her; it didn't register. She could quote Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." 

The problem was that she understood neither the definition of grace nor the meaning of the verse. From the confusion a cult had given her, she included dying to sin and the need to be baptized and the need to speak in tongues in order to be saved. To her, there were 3 steps to heaven: Her death to sin, her burial (her baptism), and speaking in tongues (her resurrection).

IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Yes. It's impossible for a person to be saved by the gospel if that person doesn't understand the gospel. He can't believe something he doesn't understand. He can define the words, quote the verses, but if he doesn't understand them, there is no salvation (Matthew 13:18). This is why some Lordship salvation teachers say that a child can't be saved. He can't understand Lordship salvation. They're right on that account, no child could understand such teaching. But faith alone in Christ alone, they can understand.

This is why, when we give the gospel, we must probe, ask, and delve as deeply as we can to see if, although he might define the words correctly, although he might quote Eph. 2:8-9 with 100% accuracy, that he connects the dots to understand that when he says, "Heaven is free, but you have to earn it" he's speaking nonsense.