Lost in Translation

I was talking with one of our Colombian pastors last week, and he said something interesting: "In the ministry the problems are generally the same." How true. I've been noticing the same thing in the ministry in Chia.

What's the basic problem of your average Christian? A self-centered life as opposed to a Christ-centered live. For example, how do we solve problems in our household? Well, if we are self-centered we'll do it according to what seems right to us. We may explode, we may avoid the problem, or we may try get back at our family member so that "they see how it feels." I've found that many Christians haven't learned how to ask for forgiveness. But this is a prime case of giving Satan a foothold in our family.

Of course we see different variations of the same-old problems. I've had to scratch my head a few times lately. I had someone storm out of the class I was teaching in a different church for the following very good reason . . . a difference of opinion over Spanish grammar. This person then refused to talk to anyone from the church. You really can't do anything except pray for such a person.