A missionary friend of mine told me about a humorous interaction he had with his organization’s IT department. It’s yet another another example of “telling is not teaching.” In this case, “sending is not receiving.”

My friend received a donation toward the end of March, say it was $1,000. Then in early April, for reasons unknown, the system withdrew that donation from his account and then put it right back in. So in the official report, April shows two extra entries: one for minus $1,000, when they took it out, and one for plus $1,000 when they put it back in. Net change, zero.

A few weeks later, when he was looking at the database, a separate program over which his organization has no control except to send it data, he noticed a reported extra $1,000 in his account. Why? The database software does not recognize negative donations.

When my friend put all that information into a message to his IT explaining the problem, he received a prompt response:

…our API that sends the data to [the database] does have a negative amount indicating the funds were reversed.

And they attached a screenshot to show that they sent both lines: the negative line and the positive line. In other words, “Things are fine. Leave us alone.”

He wrote back thanking them for their work but explained (again):

I get that you sent them the positive and negative adjustments. You sent the negative adjustment, but I’m saying that the database does not receive it.

That time he received a note from the supervisor of the person who wrote the first response:

You are absolutely correct about the balance being off in the database.  This has been a small problem for quite some time.

Telling is not teaching…listening is not learning…sending is not receiving. These are simple concepts that we ignore to our peril.

• In this case, “There’s not a problem here; we sent the correct data.”
• In the church, “I know most the folks in my congregation are having daily time with God; I preach it on it at least once a year.”
• In one of my seminars, “I know they understand relational disciple-making. I talked about it in depth.”

NO on all three counts. Communication requires work, and we can’t assume that just because we said it once, using only one approach, everyone got it.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. (Colossians 1.28, NIV)

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (2 Peter 1.12 – 15, NIV)