Well, that was embarrassing.

Embarrassing misunderstandings.  They happen to all of us from time to time.  We die a thousand deaths at the time, but (generally) later look back at them and allow others to have a good laugh with us at our own expense.

As you may expect in the early days of a cross-cultural experience, misunderstandings are par for the course.  There are some classic stories approaching the level of urban legend.  To the best of my knowledge, this is true.  A single missionary invited some of her new friends to her apartment to share a meal together.  Trying her best to be culturally sensitive, she warmly greeted her guests with, “My home is your home.”   The problem is she misspoke one key word.  Instead of saying, “my home” - the Spanish word is “casa,” - she said, “my bed” - the Spanish word is “cama.”  Her guests obviously knew her intended meaning and they continued on, not missing a beat.  Later, however, they revealed to her the mistake . . . and she died a thousand deaths.

When we were in language school in Costa Rica, we invited one of our teachers to our apartment so we could practice our Spanish and get to know her a bit better.  Her husband was a pastor and he was leading some people from the church on a missions trip - so it was a perfect opportunity for her to come and visit.  Once we were ready to eat, I tried to ask her, “Do you want to eat (hambre)?”  What I actually said was, “Do you want a man (hombre)?”  With a twinkle in her eye, she responded, “I have a man, but I am hungry.”  Oops.

When in a rush, I’ve sent warm, mushy-gushy notes to the wrong Sharon in my email list.  Stupid auto-correct sent “xxoo” to a buddy of mine.  I’ve compiled a pretty good list of embarrassing misunderstandings.  Thankfully, I don’t think any of them have done any permanent damage - just bruised my ego a bit.  Usually, time resolves these things, and we can look back on them and laugh.

What if the misunderstanding is directed toward God?

As a general rule of thumb, I think we can expect to have our share of embarrassing misunderstandings with the Almighty.  Solomon told us this would happen.  We live with limitations in our knowledge and perspective.  He doesn’t.  We tend to jump to conclusions.  He doesn’t.  We are distracted by chaos and confusion.  He isn’t.  Only God knows the end from the beginning.  

The Scriptures are full of people who experienced embarrassing misunderstandings with God.  Sarah laughed when God said she would get pregnant.  Noah’s peers mocked him for building a boat.  Job’s friends tried to lecture him on the nature of God . . . only later to ask Job to offer sacrifices on their behalf.  Peter stood outside a house knocking on the door only to be left outside because the young lady who answered couldn’t believe it was him.

Embarrassing misunderstands are usually sourced in our limitations.  Whether it be in language skills, technology, or knowledge of God, dealing with limitations are part of living in God’s created order, and our very worst embarrassing misunderstandings cannot derail His purposes or plans.   Thankfully, our relationship with God is not contingent on “getting it right.”  He understands our misunderstandings (Psalm 103:14).

We can direct our anger to Him undeservedly.  He will still respond to us in grace.  We can presume that He is inattentive to us.  He will still respond to us in grace.  We can pretend He isn’t aware of something we’d rather keep to ourselves.  He will still respond to us in grace.  

There is a caveat in all of this.  We cannot be presumptive of God’s grace.  Misunderstandings happen.  That isn’t an excuse to avoid improving our skills in language, in taking care with text and auto-correct functions. We can improve our understanding of the person of God.  We can study the nature of His created order.  We can grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3.18).

What is your embarrassing misunderstanding moment?  Embrace it and later tell the story.  We will enjoy sharing a chuckle with you and together we can learn a little bit more of God’s inexhaustible grace.

Ask me sometime about the time a missionary on a bus stuck their umbrella in a guy’s back and demanded he hand over his watch . . . it was a great embarrassing misunderstanding . . .