I recently went to a restaurant to get some food and had a situation with an employee. It wasn’t really bad, more annoying, but it gave me some time to think.
Being in Minnesota over the weekend, I was trying to figure out what to eat. I really could not decide, but finally thought I would go get some barbecue. I went to a restaurant and saw where they take visa cards. This was good since I did not have any cash.
I am at the order window for about a minute before one person comes over and says it will be a few minutes. Okay, that is a bit annoying, but hey I can live with it. Then a young man comes out and I wanted to know if it was possible to get a combination of brisket and pulled pork. He tells me no, which is a bit disappointing, but I understand. So I order the pulled pork and when it is all done I pull out a credit card to pay and he says their machine is broken. Now I am really disappointed, but simply tell the guy I do not have any cash and walk away. They have wasted my time by making me wait and not posting anything about their credit card machine. As I am leaving the guy leans out the window and asks me what he should do with the other. I tell him again that I do not have any cash, so he says in a snotty way something to the effect I will to cancel the order. The reply is yes and then he gets really snotty with the way he said well thanks for telling me. Excuse me! All of this could have been avoided if you simply would have posted our credit card machine is currently broken, we can only accept cash. Not sure he heard me, but I said something to the effect of it is not me responsibility to tell you how to run your business.
You may be wondering where is the thinking part of all of this? Well, it was while I was sitting there trying to find another place to eat. The thought was is that how Jesus would have responded? I had a very quick private conversation with myself and thought about what Jesus and others in the Bible said about interacting with others.
- Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31).
- Love one another (John 13:34).
- Do not repay evil with evil (Romans 12:17).
- Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
- Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16).
- Accept one another (Romans 15:7).
- Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32).
- Honor everyone (1 Peter 2:17).
- Rejoice not when the enemy falls (Proverbs 24:17).
There are many scripture verses about how we are to treat everyone, but the theme is that instead of treating the other person badly, I should have simply said sorry and then walked away. I say that is what I should have said, but that is not so easy when we are dealing with the world and our fleshly desires.
Pray for me as I pray for you to help overcome how we want to treat people based on our fleshly desires and treat them as God wants you too. He wants you to love one another, because that one simple act would help alleviate so many of our worldly problems. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!