The Dreaded Christian Table

Phil Ryken @ http://reformation21.org/Reformation_21_Blog/Reformation_21_Blog/58/vobId__4608/

Writing in relevantmagazine.com, Daniel Holland describes his traumatic experiences as a waiter in a small restaurant (location unknown), serving the "Christian table" on Sunday nights: "I'd heard from countelss others that the 'Church crowd' is hands down the worst group of people to wait on. I never believed them, mostly because I was always part of the Church crowd. Unfortunatel, I've come to find out how right they were. "Being the new guy, taking this table was like an initiation into the crew of waiters. I gladly took it on, thinking to myself, 'these are people just like me, people who follow Christ, and it would be an honro for me to serve them.' Holland proceeds to describe a nightmarish experience of religious posturing, rudeness, check splitting, and undertipping. He also describes the Christ-like compassion he received from his co-workers: "When other servers got word that I had the 'Church table' the all immediately patted me on the back and told me everything would be all right. My 'non-Christian' co-workers automaticall volunteered to help me out because they knew what was coming. They told me that I might as well not waste my time by trying hard at this table, because they were going to be rude and leave me next to nothing." Holland closes by saying, "Now, because of the way my colleagues have been treated Sunday after Sunday, their hearts have been hardened to the message of Christ." Reading this, I am reminded of Ligon's recent post "Christians Do Not Live Like they Say the Believe." Sometimes the church is weak in its witness because we are just like the surrounding culture. Sometimes, sadly, it is because people who call themselves Christians behave even worse.