Several years ago my wife and I were enjoying lunch with
some co-workers in the city of Chetumal, Mexico when a discussion about the
bill came up. We wanted to ask the waiter about it but suddenly no one could
remember the Spanish word for check or bill. Despite the fact that there were
four fairly fluent Spanish speakers at the table, all of whom had lived in
Spanish speaking countries for some time, our minds drew a complete blank. To
our defense, we were living in Belize at the time where there are multiple
languages spoken daily and our Spanish was rusty.
As we sat there trying to remember the right word we came up
with several different scenarios. Someone suggested “factura” and another said,
“No, that means invoice.” We guessed a couple of other words, getting frustrating and laughing
at ourselves, because we couldn’t come up with the right word. Finally, when
the waiter came by, one of the ladies held up the check and asked, “Cómo se
llama esto?” “What do you call this?” The waiter laughed and said, “la cuenta.”
We then felt silly for not remembering such a common word.
The situation seems funny now. Four people suddenly drew a
blank about such a common word. The answer was simple, really – ask the expert.
We were in a Spanish speaking country and we could ask anyone around us. Even a
child would have known the answer to the question because it was his language. As
I ponder this, I am reminded of how simple things can cause such great
confusion in our lives. All of us arrive at places in our lives where we are not
quite sure what to do about something. Perhaps we have a decision to make about
a job change. Maybe we need to know how to handle a rebellious teenager or a
difficult co-worker. Life is full of questions.
Not all of the answers can be found by simply waiving the
check in the air and asking, “what do call this?” Yet God has put people around
us who can help. Many people, upon facing difficulties in their lives, never
think to ask a pastor or an elder about their situation. We tend to talk things
over with our peers who are often in the same boat we are in. II Corinthians
10:2 teaches us that it is not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves this
way. There is wisdom in counsel, but only when the counselor is giving good
advice. The worst thing someone can do is take bad advice.
How do we know what good advice is? Good advice will always
line up with the word of God. Good advice will come from the mouths of those
who have dedicated their lives to the work of God and are seeking to follow
him. An example that comes to mind has to do with church attendance. It is easy
to let someone who doesn’t go to church tell you why you don’t have to be part
of a church. The wise thing, however, would be to read the scripture and see
what it says about church attendance. If you are not sure how to find the
answers you need in scripture, ask an elder who has proven himself or herself faithful
to the word of God. This is just one example among many. The same goes for
child rearing, financial matters, and marriage issues.
In the case of the Spanish-speaking waiter that day, all of
us were sure that he knew what he was talking about. After all, Spanish was his
native language and he worked in a restaurant. No doubt he used the word “cuenta”
many times in a day. Now I understand that none of us has all the answers. But
there are people who have given themselves to the word, to the ministry, and to
prayer and can give us wise counsel. I
would rather seek advice from someone that has done this than from someone who
hasn’t opened a Bible in years. After all, making wise choices based on the
word of God can save us a lot of heartache.
Sincerely,
Sullivan Jones