I grabbed lunch at Subway today (Gail had work to do at home and I didn’t want to interrupt her). They have an amusing sign on their door, “We do not except checks.” It’s an understandable mistake, but amusing just the same. I think what they mean is, “Don’t try to write a check for your lunch.” But what they said was, “We will take a check as payment because we don’t except them as a form of payment.”
It happens, doesn’t it. We think we’ve said one thing and instead we’ve said the opposite. We think we’re saying “I love you” when in reality we’re saying, “I love me.” We think we’re communicating and instead…well, it’s either not getting through or not making sense. It happens. And sometimes it’s amusing. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s not.
We want to say, “God loves and accepts all people.” We end up saying, “God loves people like me.” We want to say, “Any sin can be forgiven.” Instead, we communicate, “Except the sin for which you are guilty.” We would like to communicate, “All people are welcome at our church.” We end up with, “If you look and sound and smell and dress like us, we’ll welcome you.”
I wish people just knew what I meant…and were not limited to what I actually said.
” Yep, that’s me. But it’s not about me. It’s about a small church with a big heart.