Heavenly Hoarding

"When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ~Matthew 9:11

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” ~Matthew 28:19

I'm not sure I could find any Christian who wouldn't agree that part of being saved is to spread God's word. To share his love, grace, conviction, salvation, forgiveness - to give others the gift that we have been given, though we are undeserving. We have the ability to approach the throne of the Father and sit at his feet. We can ask his forgiveness, seek his wisdom, praise him, and rest in his hands. And thank goodness - I've only been up for a few hours and I've already bent his ear a number of times.

When we find something so amazing, we have to share it. Though the examples aren't quite comparable, I can think of times when I've tried a new diet, product, restaurant, parenting hack (clear nail polish over the speaker of loud toys - thank me later), and I've wanted to share this thing that made my life better. And though I'm not the best at evangelizing, this is all the more true of God. I want everyone to feel loved like I do. 

So why, then, do we sometimes fall into a pattern of what I like to call "heavenly hoarding"? We look at another person, one of our brothers or sisters on this earth, and we decide that their sins are worse than ours, so to heck with them. We self-righteously rail against them and puff ourselves up as quite literally holier-than-thou. We gather up our salvation and shove it into our vaults for safe-keeping, lest any of those awful, dirty "others" and "bad people" get their grubby little souls on it.

My friends, it would be easier to pour the entirety of the ocean into a county fair goldfish bag.

We belong to God, and we are his children. But we do not own him. God is our savior, but he is not a commodity that we can secret away in a pouch under our shirts when we travel. He's not a diamond to be auctioned off to the rich. He's not a mansion in a gated community where everyone inside the walls can congratulate themselves for not being like those on the outside.

God is for everyone. I'm going to say that again - God is for everyone. For liberals, conservatives, gay people, straight people, men, women, the homeless, the imprisoned, the rich, the poor, and even "that person" who you picture in your head and feel smug about when the pastor is talking about a particular trap of sin people can fall into.

Jesus felt the weight of all of our sins, all that we have committed, all that we will commit, all that were committed before he was clothed in human form, all that will be until the end of time - all at once. And here's an uncomfortable truth - every single one of us owns the same size wood splinter of the stakes that were driven through his hands and feet. You and I are both equally as responsible for his suffering. We have no horse to climb up on - only the ground to kneel on and thank him for his grace in loving us anyway. In saving us.

Open your hands and your hearts and pour out his love on ALL of your neighbors - we can use all the light we can get.

Here's a tip - give one

The internet is full of wonderful new things to learn. In the recent past I've learned that some people don't have an inner narrative, that ruby-eyed tree frogs are the cutest things ever, and that I'm not the only person who doesn't like cheese, no matter how much it seems like it.

Then there are all the upsetting things you can learn, the latest of which for me was the existence of these:

I'm sure most of you were already aware of them, but I've never been a server, nor have I known someone who gives these (that I'm aware of). It looks like currency, and is usually left halfway under a plate as a "tip" with only the money part showing. The server goes to take their tip, and surprise - it's not money. It's an invitation to salvation.

Before I go any further, I want to stress something - I am all for sharing the Lord. I 100% believe that salvation is unfathomably more valuable than money. That's not the issue.

First of all, a tipping economy is used to scandalously underpay workers in most states, with the idea that the rest will be made up in monetary tips. These tips are a server's livelihood - what they use to pay their rent, put food on the table for their children, fill their gas tank, etc. They're already losing a chunk when they pay out to other parts of the restaurant. They're already losing a chunk when the tip is on the card because then the whole thing does not go to the server. They are stiffed by patrons who didn't like the service, the music, the kitchen messing up on something, or that the server wouldn't give them an ingredient they said they were allergic to when they were just trying to get a special order/exception. Any of you who've worked anywhere in face to face customer service are also aware that these men and women get screamed at, groped, talked down to, and blamed for ridiculous things.

So this lovely person who's served a table comes back to a wonderful sight - they've been given a larger tip than usual (some of these are even printed to look like $100). They are so happy that they can make rent/buy those new shoes their kids need/go to the doctor's appointment they couldn't afford/finally have a bit of a buffer for the week. Except - nope. No money there.

If you want to leave a pamphlet in addition to a monetary tip, that's fine. If you want to write a bit of scripture or an invitation to the church on your receipt, knock yourself out. But people - one of the best ways we can show God's love to those who don't know it is by our example. By showing our light and love so that they can see firsthand what He can do. After all, we are made in His image.

So what does leaving one of these deceptive pamphlets tell them? That we are liars. That we don't value them as our brothers and sisters. That we don't care how little they're paid to serve us. That we want to put a line in the "well, I spread the Word today" column without living that word by acting with generosity and compassion.

Falsehood is a tool of the devil, and when we try to use it to further the cause of Christ, it's going to backfire. 

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

~John 8:44

God can turn it for good, of course. But the takeaway I've gotten from almost any of the stories I've seen involving these, it cements in the server's mind that Christians are uncaring, superior, and miserly. Is that the kind of group you'd want to join? One restaurant manager went so far as to leave clearly fake bills in an offering plate at the offending church. While that may have been a bit far, and while a church and a restaurant are clearly different things, wouldn't you be upset if you couldn't pay to fix the church roof because the offerings you received were coupons to Bob Evans disguised as money? If you couldn't pay for the church's ministries because the plate was full of senior specials at Denny's?

So go forth - be kind. Be generous. And above all, speak TRUTH.