The Waiter Theory

     I read an article about "The Waiter Theory" that some CEOs use to evaluate potential employees. They take them out to eat at a fancy restaurant and then watch how they treat the waiter. If they're rude, condescending and impatient with the wait staff, then they usually don't get hired. Sometimes they will also ask their receptionist or secretary how the potential employee treated them. It makes you think doesn't it? How do YOU treat the waiter?

     The world likes to make us think that we are "better" than other people; that if we are highly educated, skilled, talented or well-off that makes us better than those who are not. The world tells us we have "earned the right" because of the degrees hanging on our walls, the way we look or dress, the neighborhood we live in, the cars we drive or the friends we have, to treat those we feel are "beneath us" like they are less important.  I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes from, Horton Hears a Who; "A person's a person, no matter how small."
     God made ALL of us, not a select few. He loves ALL of us the same, not a select few. We are ALL God's favorite, not a select few. I am just as much a child of the King, as the homeless man who has Jesus in his heart but no food in his stomach. I am just as much a child of the King, as the Dr. with multiple degrees hanging on his wall wondering why all that education didn't make him happy, desperately needing someone to tell Him about Jesus. I am just as much a child of the King, as the prodigal, who has left his family for drugs & alcohol and is still searching for something or someone to fill the emptiness.
     Whether we are Christains, or not, we are ALL His children and He loves us ALL beyond measure....the only difference is some of us have come home to our Father, and some of us have not. For the ones who are still wandering around looking for home....how will they find it if we treat them like dirt? The Father doesn't want ANY of His Children to perish, but without Him...they surely will. We are His hands, His feet, His voice, His patience, His compassion, His love to this world. How will they find Him if we are a terrible example of God's love? How will they see Jesus...if they don't see Him in you and me??

1 Corinthians 13:2:

"If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing."

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"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them."

Who Are You Trying to Impress??

     I ask that of myself a lot.  Am I trying to blend in and be like everyone else?  Am I trying to change who God made me to be so that I will be accepted?  I mean, I do try to look decent when I leave the house. I do my very best to be nice to everyone I meet…even when they don’t return the favor. I try to be sure my clothes won’t embarrass my children and I’m wearing makeup so no one will think I am my children’s Grandma. But, in all sincerity, these things are done to impress someone else. I’m not saying my outwardly appearance is not important. Heaven forbid I decide it’s not and stop wearing makeup or fixing my hair!! That’s not gonna happen. And, I do admit I honestly enjoy getting my nails done and wearing a new outfit that is (hopefully) “cool”. I like it when someone says I look nice. Who doesn’t? But what about the spiritual side of me? Do I “put on makeup” to disguise the blemishes, the sin, the doubt? Do I “talk the talk” but not really “walk the walk”? Do I point out what’s wrong with everyone else and not see that blatant sin I’m flaunting for all to see? As Paul said in Ephesians, “Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”. Am I just putting on the pretty parts of God’s armor and leaving the heavier stuff hanging in the closet?

     You can’t expect to be a witness to the world if you say one thing and then do another. You can’t say you’re a Christian and you love God with all your heart, and then turn around and curse like a sailor, behave crudely, or treat other people badly. What does that say about your relationship with God? Any beauty or wealth you attain in this life will not last. Beauty fades, gets wrinkly and saggy and old. Wealth cannot buy you happiness or peace or love. The ONLY thing in this life that will last is your relationship with God and the legacy you leave behind with those who know you.

     What will they say about you when you are gone? Will they say, “She was so pretty” or “She sure could party!”? Will they be glad you’re gone because of the way you treated them? Will they remember you and say, “What a sad, lonely person he was. All that money, but no happiness.” Or will they remember you as a woman/man of God… Someone that truly listened when they needed to talk, gave a good example of a Godly life,spoke kindly to everyone and treated everyone with love? I don’t want to leave behind a reputation of being a party-going, hell-raising, drinking, smoking , cussing, Good-time girl. I don’t want people to say they respect me because of all the people I trampled on to get where I was. I don’t want people to say they want to be like me because I was beautiful and said all the things they wanted to hear. I want them to look back at my life and say, “She loved God. She cared. She prayed. She listened. She was kind. She was a true Christian example.”

     If you say you’re a true Christian, BE one…ALL the time. Not just on Sunday, not just when you see someone from church. Be a true Christian with your friends, when it’s not popular, when it hurts, when you feel insecure, when no one else IS. Don’t close God off and say, “Ok God, you can be a part of every part of my life….but this part over here…well you know I like to party and, well you know I can’t help it if I curse cause everyone else does, and wow, God whatever you do don’t go looking at my profile pictures on Facebook! That is definitely off limits….but I will let you in the rest of my life God, oh well, except you know that boy I’m seeing…well yeh, don’t go there either God ok?”

     Who are you trying to impress….really? You’re friends? You’re enemies? The world? The only opinion you need to worry about is God’s. He loves you….even more than your own Mother (and that’s A LOT!). He cares about everything that happens to you. And those areas you’ve asked Him to turn His back to…well He knows about all those too. Yep, He’s seen every picture you posted on Facebook. He’s heard every curse word you ever muttered. He’s seen every sin you ever committed….and He loves you ANYWAY!

     Everyone messes up. Everyone makes mistakes. Sin is Sin to God. There’s not one worse than another. It’s all the same to Him. And, if you’ve asked Him into your life and to forgive you of your sins then He does! But that doesn’t mean we now have a free ticket to sin all we want because we are forgiven anyway! We are supposed to be leading the lost to Him, and we cannot do that if we are living just like we never got saved…. “and (as Edith Ann would put it) that’s the truth!”

“Don't cause others to stumble, whether they are Jewish, Greek, or members of God's church.”

1 Corinthians 10:32