Communication Is an Infrequent Miracle, with Mark Labberton

“ When I watch people who are what I think of as expert communicators, they are people who have this quality that they hear well, they listen deeply, and they know what kind of communication to give in return that actually seals that that was fully received.” (Mark Labberton, from this episode)

Why is it so hard to communicate? To accomplish the simple task of delivering and receiving information?

In this Conversing Short, Mark Labberton suggests that real and successful communication is a miracle, and an infrequent one at that. Our failure to communicate regularly demonstrates just how far we are from adequately listening to one another. Ultimately, if we want to seek the miracle of communication, we need to take the responsibility to “close the loop” and do the work of hearing, listening, and acknowledging receipt.

About Conversing Shorts

“In between my longer conversations with people who fascinate and inspire and challenge me, I share a short personal reflection, a focused episode that brings you the ideas, stories, questions, ponderings, and perspectives that animate Conversing and give voice to the purpose and heart of the show. Thanks for listening with me.”

About Mark Labberton

Mark Labberton is the Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Fuller Seminary. He served as Fuller’s fifth president from 2013 to 2022. He’s the host of Conversing.

Show Notes

• Endless communication meetings talking about the failure of our communication
• News media’s failure to communicate
• Marital failures to communicate
• Parent-child failures to communicate
• Overcommunicating with too much information
• Undoing miscommunication
• “Communication is a miracle and not a frequent one.”
• Why is it so hard to communicate?
• “ In many ways, the stakes are against us when we’re really trying to communicate.”
• Ears, eyes, space, time, sounds, lighting
• How far we are from adequately listening to one another
• Acknowledging receipt of a message
• “The world is pushy. Culture is pushy.”
• Clarity of mind and heart
• ”When I watch people who are what I think of as expert communicators, they are people who have this quality that they hear well, they listen deeply, and they know what kind of communication to give in return that actually seals that that was fully received.”
• The importance of closing the communication loop
• “If I’m seeking the miracle of communication, then I have to live into the responsibility of closing the loop of communication and not just being a passive recipient of what it is that’s been said.”
• Failure to close the loop is what allows us to measuring the infrequency of true, successful communication.

Production Credits

Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary.