Apologies For Miscommunication

By Dr. John Ed Mathison
Executive Director
John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries

During the World Cup Soccer this summer Delta Air Lines made a terrible mistake in communication. They had to apologize for a tweet that went out to over 600,000 people!

Delta’s tweet was the equivalent of a referee’s red card. Following the U.S 2-1 victory over Ghana, the tweet showed the Statue of Liberty to represent the U.S. and used a giraffe to Giraffes aren’t native to Ghana, the West African country with more than 25 million people.

Delta apologized and said that the tweet “was both inaccurate and inappropriate.” Even though Delta does not fly to Ghana, it was a terrible mistake in communication. Delta has put in place a program to review its means of communication. They want “to ensure that future images and posts reflect both our values and our global focus.”

This July 2014 Facebook has publically apologized for running a psychology experiment on thousands of people without their consent or knowledge. Sheryl Sandberg, the No. 2 executive, said the company communicated “poorly” about the experiment, which tested whether Facebook could manipulate users’ emotions.

Facebook really gets a communication out quickly to a lot of people. They have discovered that bad communication goes sometimes more rapidly than good communication.

Protestors have said, “We are not experimental rats in a laboratory. What gives them the right to run experiments without our knowledge?”

Sandberg has done a lot of apologizing. She said, “This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that is what it was – it was poorly communicated, and for that communication, we apologize.”

Communication is so important. Look at the millions of dollars lost in companies because of poor communication. Look at sports teams that lose contests because of poor communication.

Look at families that suffer because of poor communication. Look what happens to churches – When God wanted to communicate who He was and how He related to mankind, He sent the perfect communication – His Son Jesus. He didn’t send an idea or a message, He sent a Person John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

What Jesus said and did embodied God’s message to each of us. His Word was perfect communication. We might not hear the message, or we might reject the message, but the communication is always perfect. God will never have to apologize for miscommunication!

I am glad God didn’t tweet or use Facebook – He sent His Son.

John Ed’s posts appear each Thursday in For His Glory.
Contact: JAM Executive Suite 4,4131 Carmichael Road, Montgomery, AL 36106 Phone: 334-270-2149 Email:info@johnedmathison.org