Last Sunday, we were visiting with some family in PA and
decided to hit up a local unnamed restaurant after church. It was a really busy time and I could see
there were many “churchy looking” people coming in, leaving, and enjoying their
lunch. When our family stepped up to the
counter, I was friendly with the lady and she started to take our order. I’m not sure why but I asked the lady (who
happened to be the store manager), “So, are you having a good day?” She replied politely and kept ringing up our
order. Probing a little more I said, “Do
you enjoy working here? Are the
customers nice to you?” I wish I could
say her response shocked me but it didn’t.
With a sad look on her face she said, “You know, I hate to say it, but I
totally dread coming to work on Sunday’s.
You would think that with all these people coming in here after church,
they would be nice, but they are the worst customers ever. They are totally rude and make our jobs very
unpleasant.”
Of course I took it upon myself to apologize on behalf of
all the Christians in Pennsylvania and she laughed and we said our goodbyes.
Bradley and I walked away and my heart just sank into my
stomach. What the heck is wrong with us,
people?!
We get upset that people call us Christians “hypocrites”,
but I can’t say that I blame them.
How is it that we can walk into church and be the nicest
people ever, and then lay it all aside when we interact with the “world”? Not cool, people. Seriously…come a little closer so I can punch
your face. Okay, I’m not going to punch
you, but what is it going to take for Christian’s to STOP BEING SO DUMB?!
So, for days I’ve been thinking about this. My heart has been sad. I’ve been thinking a lot about my life and
what areas I’m being a dumb Christian. I
do agree that I’ve acted dumb before and probably still am. I mean, the first step towards healing is
acknowledging you have a problem, right?
Here’s the deal. I’m
done with the Christian show…actually I’ve been over that for a while now, but I
don’t want to be dumb anymore!
How about this for a concept? Let’s start living the life that God wants us
to and then we won’t have to even fake it at church? When we are living and growing every day to
be more and more like Jesus, we won’t be arrogant jerks to people at
Panera. Oops. Yes, it was Panera. I seriously love that place.
Here are a few of the things I have been thinking about
lately to help me to keep my faith authentic as I interact with the world…maybe
it will help you in your journey to stop being a dumb Christian too.
- Ask God to help you have a heart of compassion for the world- EVERY SINGLE interaction you have during the day can be an opportunity to shine the Light of Christ. Don’t waste your life!
Don’t be an arrogant jerk. People in food service have some of the hardest jobs out there. When you accepted Christ you didn’t earn the right to turn your Christian mojo off and on when you feel like it. Almost every single day you will interact with someone either at a gas station, shopping mall, food service, salon, kid’s sports, etc…. Treat people with KINDNESS. And, oh, leave a decent tip…a track and no cash is a crappy testimony!- Open your eyes to what is going on around you. Look into people’s eyes. Ask questions. Be genuinely interested in what is going on in other people’s lives (I know it’s shocking, but life isn’t really all about you). Don’t be immobilized by your insecurity. Step out and let yourself do awkward and uncomfortable things for the sake of Jesus.
I could go on and on…that’s enough for now.
One last thing…
A month or so ago I heard a speaker and he said something
that seriously imprinted on my heart and I believe might just have changed the
way I think about my life. He said, “Do
you live a curious life? When people
look at you do they scratch their head and wonder why you are so incredibly
different from the rest of the world? If
not, how do you hope to win people to Christ?
Your authentic and curious life should draw people to the ask you to
tell them more.”
Will you take up that challenge friends? How about we stop being so stinking DUMB and
start to live curious lives!!!!
Digging Deeper,
Tirzah
PS. Sorry if my boldness offended you. Oh wait, that was the old Tirzah
speaking. I HOPE I MADE YOU TOTALLY
UNCOMFORTABLE AND I’M NOT SORRY FOR SAYING IT!!!
Preach it, Sister!
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, there were uncounted numbers of times where I would eat out with the brothers and sisters (especially on Sundays, of all times), when I would find an excuse to hang back from the group as they left. The reason: to replace those phony $10 or $20 bills that someone in our group would leave behind as a tip, thinking that they were doing ministry. Does anyone remember those ill-conceived things . . . anyone? You know - the ones that were the face of a bill on one side, and a mini tract on the other. “What you just received is more precious than silver and gold!” Yup – “Stiffing The Wait staff for the Lord” – I can almost feel those blessings of days gone by. . . .NOT.
At other times, I was so embarrassed by my "family's" demanding and "serve me" behavior, that I simply started finding excuses not to eat in public with them (especially in restaurants in my work zones where the staff recognized me from my job).
Not only with service people in the food industry, but with nearly everyone out there we come in contact with on a Day-To-Day basis, we try to live up to our family’s joke credo of "Our Mission Is To Simply Entertain Everyone Else Around Us." In reality, we are consciously attempting to be a bright spot and/or blessing to people we meet or speak with during the day. Unfortunately, this is not that hard to do these days. We even had a bill collector once thanking us for being the only polite (and fun) people he had talked to all week.
As a family, we have always tried to keep an attitude of gracious and appreciative thanks towards anyone who serves or assists us. It is, to us, the same thought as giving a cup of cold water to someone in the Lord’s name.
It really is not that hard to do, especially once you start making it a habit. So why is it that so many of us do not? Why is it that so many of us seem to try to do the opposite sometimes?
Thanks for taking the time to process this with me, Tony!
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