among whom he works?

The first step in conquering this superiority complex is to realize
that it is there. Most of us have it without realizing it. If we
realize that this thing probably exists somewhere in our make-up, it
will be easier to recognize it when it suddenly rears its head, as it
did with me. Seeing it for what it is is the first step in conquering
it. The second step, I think, is to become thoroughly acquainted with
those to whom we go. Perhaps if we know more about them we will not
find them so inferior. Go and live their life with them, twenty-four
hours of the day. Don't just put yourself in the position of an
observer, but try to do the things that they do. You will probably
find that you are not as proficient in doing most of the things that
they do as are their ten-year-old children! If your people are
_uncivilized_, go into the jungle with them and try to wrest your
living from the jungle--try to find or make everything that you need.
If they are _civilized_, but poor and backward, go into their homes,
and live their lives with them. See how they grow their own food, and
that without the use of modern machinery; how they grind their own
grain into flour, salt or dry their own vegetables, butcher their own
meat--if they have any; how they raise cotton, pick it, card it, spin
it, dye it, weave it into cloth, and make the clothes for the family
without the aid of a sewing machine. And then watch them (as I often
have) make beautiful embroidery for relaxation! By the time you have
become really familiar with (I won't say proficient in) their way of
life, I think you will have lost most of your feeling of superiority.
You will no more think of them as "ignorant savages," or "those from
lower cultural groups." Instead, they will just be John, and Mary, and
Peter, and Paul--or whatever their names happen to be--real people,
like you and me; real people, who are amazingly skillful in some ways,
and amazingly stupid in others, just like the rest of us.

There is one more thing we need to do in conquering that superiority
complex. We need to realize what a difference having Christ makes.
Those to whom we minister may live in the midst of filth and disease.
Their minds may be dull, and their hearts dark and full of fears.
(Were our ancestors any different when Christ found them?) But see
them come to the One who is the Light of the world, and watch the
transformation that takes place. Then realize more deep