Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Sometimes, it's more than just a dime

Today I had Cousin's for dinner because I have run out of food in my apartment. Attempting to be efficient with my money, I got the two 7.5 inch subs for $5.50 deal, rather than the 4.25 for one 7.5 inch sub deal. Anyway, I ordered from one guy, who went to make my sub, and the other guy came over and rang me up for him. I was kind of in a daze (not drug-induced, obviously), so I paid and took my change without paying attention. As I waited for my sub, I looked at my receipt and noticed the guy had only charged me for one sub. Quickly I was reminded of a story the pastor of my church told.

Here's how it goes: A pastor got onto a bus one day and paid his fare to the bus driver. When the driver handed back his change, he sat down at the back of the bus. Counting his change to make sure he had been given back enough change, he soon realized that the driver had given him a dime too much. The pastor thought about it for a sec. It's a dime, it doesn't really matter. But after a while, his conscience got the best of him and he took the dime back. The driver said to him, "I was watching you in my mirror the whole time. If you hadn't given that dime back, I would have written off the whole Christian population as a bunch of hypocrites."

I gave the change back. Now, there's no way the cashier could have known that I was a Christian, but I still think this story is very relevant. Christians are constantly being analyzed for their actions. It is a Christian's duty to live a model life. However, I am not saying that they should attempt to sway other people to switch religions, gain religion, or even live their life like a Christian. I have said and will always say that tolerance is necessary between all religions and those who lack religion. I am instead saying that it is necessary so that people don't lose faith in Christians. There are a lot of bad people out there who call themselves Christian that lead very immoral lives, as well as a lot of good people that don't believe in religion. It is up to Christians to show people that we are a good group of people.

That being said, I will leave you with a song by a band who makes it well known that they are Christians. While their music is in no way Christian rock (though there are mentions of God and Jesus in their music, but they are not the focus of the song), Manchester Orchestra has reiterated that they are Christians through various mediums, including their tour vlog. They toured with a band, Brand New, whose lead singer, Jesse Lacey, is also a devout Christian. Andyway, the Manchester Orchestra is an AMAZING live band. Andy Hull is one of the most passionate singers I've ever seen. I'll leave you with Manchester Orchestra's "Wolves at Night"

Wolves at Night by Manchester Orchestra (live) at YouTube