the Grapevine 10/30/09

[Mark Jackson]

the Grapevine

October 30, 2009

the online newsletter of NewLife Community Church

 

Apology

 

It's been a long time since I've sent one of these. Sorry.

 

Trunk or Treat

 

TOMORROW night (Saturday the 31st) starting at 6 pm... if you're bringing a car, please arrive by 5:45 pm to get your car in the line. We still need more folks to decorate their cars & hand out candy... and, of course, more candy! Call Nancy @ 284-0572 for more details.

 

Daylight Savings Time - Fall BACK

 

This is the good DST... you get an extra hour Saturday night the 31st - which means that you should (a) set your clocks back, (b) make it to worship service on time, and (c) stay awake ALL the way through my message. :-)

 

Customer Service?

  

This will start out as a customer service rant, but I promise I'll end up somewhere in the vicinity of spiritual depth & personal application. Just don't stop reading before you get to the end, OK?

  

As most of you know, my family & I have spend the last couple of weeks in Texas, visiting family & friends. (While we managed to see all of the immediate family, we missed a lot of friends who we would have enjoyed seeing but couldn't shoehorn into 15 days.) We flew "there & back again" (props to J.R.R. Tolkien for that nifty turn of phrase) to Houston, TX, where we also rented a car for about half of our stay.

  

In the process, we met a number of customer service people who need lessons in, well, customer service:

• the ticket agent in Fresno who was irritated at a number of us less-than-first-class passengers who got in the wrong line - because they weren't labeled. (Better yet, there weren't any first class passengers, just us "coach" folks who had to move our luggage & snake under the snappy line belts that Collin likes to play with...)
• the security guard at the airport rental car facility in Houston, who would not crack a smile or even acknowledge my "Have a good day."
• the ticket agent at Houston who was crabby that the self check computer system gave us boarding passes without checking in our bags... because it was designed that way.
• the gate agent at DFW who looked like he was trying out for a position at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, only without the sense of humor.

All of those personal interactions lasted less than 4-5 minutes - in the case of the cadaverous gate agent, 15 seconds! - but the impression they left has hung with me for days. Their bad attitude continues to leave a bad aftertaste on our travel.

  

On the other hand, we had some really great interactions with customer service folks:

• The flight attendants who encouraged the boys to lean into the cockpit and say "hello" to the pilots.
• The gentleman who upgraded my rental car because he didn't have any compact class cars... and did so with a smile and a joke. I'd have happily hung out with him and talked some more college football.
• The clerks at the Willis, TX Kroger, who were uniformly pleasant and helpful in making sure we saved a few cents on our purchases. (They were taken aback that we don't have Kroger grocery stores in California.)

Their pleasant attitude was a delight - and in each case brightened my day.

  

So, now the spiritual application: In just a few minutes (sometimes moments), we have the opportunity to welcome people to NewLife and leave a lasting impression on them. If we're sour, possessive ("that's MY seat"), dismissive ("surprised to see YOU here") or apathetic, we'll give them one more excuse to not take a chance on hearing the incredible message of Christ's gracious gift.

  

On the other hand, if we are welcoming, kind, helpful & friendly, we make it easier for them to put aside the preconceptions and see what this "Jesus stuff" is all about.

  

Look, I'm not talking about putting on some "plastic Jesus" smiley face and shaking hands & kissing babies like you're running for public office. I'm simply encouraging all of us (including me!) to be aware that we are the convenience store clerks rather than the customers. The store (the church) is convenient for those who need to know Jesus... and we are here to serve.

  

Quote of the Week

  

Love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

   C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity