It seems to be a quite predictable and recurring theme that whenever I post about things that are wrong with Christians or the Church, God presents me with an opportunity to “put my money where my mouth is.” That happened again last night.
We partake in “Man Night” every Tuesday night at Bar Louie because of their special for 1$ burgers. These aren’t sliders; these are juicy beef filled goodness that cause us now to bring 12-15 guys every week.
I usually get there at 6:45pm to put our name in and sit against the cement wall of the restaurant while reading, and this week I was in Donald Miller’s Through Painted Deserts. Don provided the necessary wording to take me far away from the noise of the Louie and into an old van where he and his buddy headed north through Texas towards Oregon. Soon after, the men started arriving.
We ordered our burgers and before we handed the server our order slips, I said to her, “you’re going to want to split us up.” She looked at me like I had asked her if she could sprinkle some swine flu seasoning on my order. She replied with, “You guys don’t have cash?”
Ok stop. If you’ve EVER served ANYWHERE, you KNOW you NEVER say that. The customer is ALWAYS right.
I looked at her and politely said, “No we don’t, which is why I’m telling you now before you ring anything in so you don’t have a mess on your hands in an hour and a half.”
She walked away.
Umbrella of grace and man night continues…….until the check.
A few of the guys started throwing paper….yes I know, childish. I stopped them and explained what I had blogged about a few hours before and how we were enacting the very thing I despised. The ceased to throw paper and I continued to vomit my ideology of the way Christians should act in public so as not to trample the name of Jesus, but spread it. I had em at my fingertips, and it felt pretty good being on a pedestal. That was until our waitress (yes you can call them that) came back with our checks.
She went on and on about how she was so confused and even said things like, “If you guys would have just paid in cash I wouldn’t have to deal with this” and “This is so f***ing stupid” loud enough for us to hear.
Let me stop because you know where this is heading. I have waited tables/bar tended for a total of 9 years of my life. I know exactly what she did wrong and can prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt because I’ve trained absent minded college freshmen like this year after year and it’s just another example of American laziness that I will save for another post.
My brain exploded. I couldn’t get the words, “Can I speak to your manager” out of my mouth before she walked away.
Everyone was staring at me. This was it. This was God pulling back the curtain. This was the horse of a different color. This was my chance to either live out what I typed earlier or fall in line with the rest of them.
She came back and I didn’t say a word. One guy said, “Josiah, you HAVE to talk to the manager. You can’t let her get away with this.”
No I don’t have to talk to the manager. Yes I have to let her get away with this, because Jesus lets me get away with stuff like this every single day.
You see, grace isn’t something that’s wired into us naturally. It goes against every fiber of our beings conjuring up sentences like, “it’s not fair” and “but it doesn’t make any sense” or “but they deserve it.”
That waitress deserved me talking to her manager about her terrible performance as a server as much I deserve Jesus talking to God about my terrible performance as a child of God.
John 1:14
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[a] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
At some point you get to decide whether you’re going to “do what’s right” in the eyes of society and culture, and you may even be surrounded by 12 other men egging you to do so; or to give grace.
I decided to show and give grace, and it wasn’t easy. It never is.
Who do you need to show grace to today?
As our good friend Darren Phillips would say, “Indeed!” We get so brainwashed in American that we are entitled to so much just because we fly the red, white and blue. So much of what we understand to be “American” is to fight for your rights and never give in. But if we call ourselves Christians our attitudes “should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Phil. 2:5-7 Tough verse, but in light of it, its hard to make a case for NOT being willing to lay down our pride and serve up grace and mercy to the any and everyone. Thanks for a great post bud!
Good words Jesse…I hear that loud and clear!
Ahhh, grace. Something God has been teaching me about and greatly convicting me about within the past 5 months or so. I am smiling while reading this.