On her way to get lunch a woman
followed about twenty feet behind a man who she recognized from the firm below
hers. They were both going towards the same fast food restaurant three blocks
from her office. Ten feet from the fast
food entrance sat quietly a poorly attired and unshaven man. At the corner of
the sheet of cardboard upon which he sat was an old plastic cup with a few
coins and a dollar bill in it. The man paused, nodded and spoke briefly to the
homeless gentleman.
Entering the restaurant several
steps ahead of her, seeing that the line was a little long he positioned
himself about four feet immediately behind the lady last in line. He evidently
was positioning himself in line without blocking people pass through to the
condiments and drinks. She nodded and moved to stand behind him. Seconds later two
other people came into line behind her making the second line of four people.
While standing in line she looked out the window to see two forty-something men
hurrying along the street. One of the men briefly looked down towards the
disheveled man sitting on the street and then shakes his head while saying
something to his friend.
As they entered the
restaurant the two men glanced at one then the other line. At that moment the
line moves forward. When the man in front of the second line does not immediately
move across the gap to join the other line, one of the two men steps up to the
end of the first line. Then the second
steps up behind his friend.
The woman notices the
messages on the two T-shirt the men were wearing. The one simply says across
the front and back, “Jesus is the answer. Follow Him.” The line moves forward a
couple steps and she along with the man in front of her move into the first
line. As she does so she hears the man whose message reads “Join me at YYY
Church and have your life transformed,” say to his friend how it is a shame the
authorities allow the homeless to camp on the street. His friend replies that
he agrees and that he hates seeing the homeless hanging around the business
district.
When the line moves forward
again the businessman and the woman move forward too. In an expressionless tone
man with the “Join me” shirt says to the businessman, “I’m sorry we cut in line.”
The gentleman quietly nods,
“I’m an atheist who learned long ago not to take offense over such courtesies.
I’m willing to give way to Christians who are in a rush.”
While for that response the
atheist received glares from both men with the one Christian saying to the
other, “You apologized. And what did it get you? It’s another example of
how the world is increasingly becoming hostile to those who are seeking to live
and witness for Christ.”
Moments later stepping up
to counter the business ordered two meals. As he was filling the two drinks,
the woman quietly says, “Thank you for what you said. We’re not all like them.”
Exiting the restaurant with
her meal in hand, the woman noticed one of the two fellow Christians placing a
religious tract into the homeless man’s cup while saying, “Jesus will saves
you. Turn to Jesus and he will meet your need.”
Coming to the man she
places a few coins into the cup. The man from her building is just a few
strides behind her stops, extends his arm saying, “This drink and meal is for
you.”
What she witnessed at lunch
gave her pause so much so that that night the woman said to her husband, “Today
I saw the story of the Good Samaritan lived out before me.”
When she finished
describing what took place her seminary professor husband took off his glasses,
and replied with sadness, “What troubles me the most about your story is that
too many of us who claim the Lordship of Christ would say that it was the two
men who were harmed and were Christ-like rather than agree that the atheist behaved more like Jesus.”
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