Who is Our Customer?

Recently, I found myself at a well-known business center in a line of one; just myself. One clerk stood behind a sign that read “next window please”, while the other clerk bounced back and forth between two windows, neither of which had a customer. I wondered to myself why neither clerk acknowledged my presence, or said the expected phrase “Thank you for waiting, I will be with you in a moment.” As time dragged on, six other customers joined the line with questioning looks. Two other workers came to the counter, asked the bouncing clerk some questions and then went back behind the wall (much to everyone’s amazement). Eventually, another clerk came out from behind the wall, slowly transferred all the needed material from her box to the waiting cash drawer, finally removed the next window sign, and spoke the magic words “May I help you?”

Throughout my confinement in line I had to resist the urge to say either to the clerks or my fellow inmates “If I operated my business like this, I would have to close the doors.” Admittedly, my frustration level intensified with each passing moment and act of callousness, disrespect, and unconcern. After all, “Don’t they understand that I am their customer?” Thankfully, I kept reminding myself of who and what I am supposed to be and did not open Pandora’s Box (my mouth). But, as I drove away, the manner in which I had been treated really gnawed at me. I asked why I continue to subject myself to this treatment (because it seems to have become the norm). The answer is because I am confined to this location due to certain parameters beyond my control.

Then, in His masterful timing, the Holy Spirit asked, “Who is your customer?” The answer, to my chagrin, is “everybody”. As a believer in Christ and His inerrant word, I represent Him to everyone I encounter in every conceivable way; in person, on the phone, on the internet, on the highway behind the wheel of my vehicle, in line at every store I can rush to, hastily brushing past the myriad of equally frantic shoppers in the mall, and the list is infinite. Every soul of man is my customer, and I represent “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” to them. The scary part is that I am never off. I work 24/7 for Him. And, how well I represent my bosses’ corporate mission statement to my customers potentially determines their eternal outcome. Am I staying behind the “walls” which I have erected, but the Holy Spirit wants to bring down? Am I busying myself at the “window” of my life, being careful not to look up and make eye contact with those I am called to help? Am I bouncing around in constant motion, but accomplishing nothing of value where it really counts? Am I transferring items of service from one tray to another, yet failing to actually use them in the service that matters most; serving my customers, all for whom Christ died?

As we approach this holiday season, may we strive to represent Christ as well as He represents God the Father to us. May we become the "Macy's" in "Miracle on 34th Street", and be the "go to" place that puts the customer first and personal/corporate profits last. After all, we serve the God of miracles, and have the greatest product offering of all stores, the love of Christ. And, unlike the establishment that I was required to patronize, our customers can shop anywhere, for anything. Let's not allow our customers to have to shop in confusing and frustrating places for that which will never satisfy.

See someone you don’t know? Is there a customer in your line? Speak those magic words, “Hi, my name is… May I help you?”

On “Bentknee”, Pastor David

Verse for the week:

Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The Right Focus

Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

     “A farmer and his sixteen year old son were plowing when a bullhorn from the house summoned with an urgent message. The boy begged to operate the tractor alone. Dad relented with this clear instruction: ‘Son, the key to plowing a straight furrow lies in picking out an object across the field, then steadily driving the tractor in that direction.’ 

     When the father returned twenty minutes later, he was horrified at the squiggly S-shaped furrows. ‘Son’, he remonstrated, ‘I told you the key to plowing straight furrows was keeping your eye on a distant object and plowing straight toward it.’

     Tearfully the boy answered, ‘Dad, I did just what you told me, but there was no way I could get that cow to stand still.’”  (Reprinted from A Psalm In Your Heart by George O. Wood.)

The cute story above reminds us how easy it is to focus on the wrong thing. To help us learn from the boy’s mistake, we should consider the following:  

1. What are the cows in our lives or ministry responsibilities?
2. We cannot control these cows, no matter how much we want to or how hard
   we try.
3. Focusing on these cows leads only to frustration, resentment, disillusionment, and ironically disobedience.
4. We must focus on that which is un-changing, un-wavering, no matter the external conditions. Christ is the only one who fulfills that condition.
5. And, just as a thoroughbred race horse wears blinders to prevent unwanted distractions, God calls us to wear the blinders of His Word.

Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

1.     You say, I can’t do that. There is just so much to do. And it is so important.

2.     You say, the circumstances dictate my actions or reactions.

God says…FOLLOW ME!

Hebrews 12:2-3 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”