Once I was on a bus headed from Tegucigalpa, Honduras to San Salvador, El Salvador when we were held up at the border. Nothing happens quickly in this part of the world but the border crossing seemed to be taking longer than normal. At the border all of us had to disembark and walk through customs to be admitted into El Salvador. While we were doing this, our bags were being checked by agents. Once we were back on the bus there seemed to be a problem with someone's bag. A young lady kept getting back on the bus and asking for the owner of a certain bag to come forward. No one was responding so she kept repeating the same message. "We can't go anywhere until we know who this bag is for. It is locked and we must check it. Please come forward. We have a long way to go. We are going all the way to Guatemala today." Finally, in frustration they held up the bag and asked who it belonged to. It belonged to one of two American gentlemen who were having a grand old time discussing their travels in Central America without understanding a word of Spanish. When the lady held up the bag, the owner stood up and walked toward the front. At this the lady commented, "Oh, English. No wonder." I was wondering if I should offer to translate but I was near the back of the bus and they seemed to straighten everything out with pantomime in short order. We were soon on our way. Oh, the joys of traveling internationally.
Have you ever felt like someone just didn't understand what you were saying? You try to express yourself and it is like you are on a foreign planet. Christians sometimes seem to have an especially difficult time explaining to those who don't share our faith why we live as we do. In reality the answer is both simple and complicated. We are citizens of a different realm and have a different language, loyalty and code of conduct. Just as our wayward traveler with the suitcase, we should endeavor to learn some of the language of the people around us. We should try to understand how people are thinking and why they are thinking that way. But we shouldn't be too frustrated if we are not always understood. After all, our citizenship is now in heaven and, as such, this world holds less of a pull on us than it did in times past. We have a God who understands us, fellow Christians who understand us, and the promise that our savior is coming again to catch us away to our new home where everyone will speak as we do. What more could we ask for! Heaven is out of this world!
Expecting His Coming,
Sullivan Jones
Have you ever felt like someone just didn't understand what you were saying? You try to express yourself and it is like you are on a foreign planet. Christians sometimes seem to have an especially difficult time explaining to those who don't share our faith why we live as we do. In reality the answer is both simple and complicated. We are citizens of a different realm and have a different language, loyalty and code of conduct. Just as our wayward traveler with the suitcase, we should endeavor to learn some of the language of the people around us. We should try to understand how people are thinking and why they are thinking that way. But we shouldn't be too frustrated if we are not always understood. After all, our citizenship is now in heaven and, as such, this world holds less of a pull on us than it did in times past. We have a God who understands us, fellow Christians who understand us, and the promise that our savior is coming again to catch us away to our new home where everyone will speak as we do. What more could we ask for! Heaven is out of this world!
Expecting His Coming,
Sullivan Jones