Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Communication and the Gospel

I sit at my computer today working through the far too lengthy to-do list. With Digsby running in the background feeding me information from my various IM clients, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Yahoo mail, I received this twitter from Bobby Gruenwald from LifeChurch.tv (twitter): "Live from Saddleback http://qik.com/video/82585" which shows a live video feed from Bobby's trip to Saddleback Church out in Southern California. A few minutes later, I receive an email from Bill Koogler, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, about setting up an online forum to discuss theology and ministry.

Billions of bits of information fly to me every day. In our connected world 1.3 billion people are utilizing the tools of communication, but it makes one wonder if communication is actually taking place when we think it is.

The following diagram is an example of a simple communication model.

Communication Model

This week, I will break down the pieces of this model in order to show how communication works (in theory) and how this communication model can help you build relationships, improve your marriage, and share your faith.

I'll toss the question to you. Consider the diagram above and answer this question: Through these various tools of communication, do you believe effective communication is taking place? Why or why not?

Note: The following links are where you can find me in the online communities mentioned above.
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace

2 comments:

Alan Gordon said...

The question is not whether or not communication is taking place. The question is "What is being communicated?"

Gabe Smith said...

Sometimes communication is not even taking place in these environments and in churches because we're not speaking the language of the culture around us. Most if us speak English but the terms we use or the methods we use may miss our audience.

I agree content is key but the content can be solid and the audience can still have no idea what is being said because of the encoding, decoding, or noise in the system.

Related Posts with Thumbnails