Proverbs 13:3--Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.
If you happen to be a Christ-follower and you happen to read this, then you know that your life is always on display. Your actions and reactions, your words, your facial expressions, your driving. People, Christ-followers and especially those who don't follow Christ, are always watching to see if your life lines up with their expectations of how a genuine follower of Christ is supposed to live. When irritating situations arise in life, your response is crucial....even when you're in the right....enter last night.
Last night, I was in a local food establishment and received some of the worst customer service I seen in a long, long time...maybe even ever. I'm not sure what was up with the server behind the counter, but her words, expressions, and body language clued me in to the fact that she was not happy to be there. It started badly when we got the look like, "We're almost closed and now you walk in!!!" We've all gotten that look before, but the problem was that they were two hours from closing. It turned downhill quickly when she snapped at a young girl in front of me for not speaking loudly enough--she was probably eight years old and mom was letting her order her own food so she could feel like an adult (I always like that as a kid). Then when my wife asked for an minor alteration to her food, you would have thought she would have asked her to kiss her feet. She slammed the food around and just rolled her eyes. I could feel the blood really pumping now, and the tongue lashing was soon to commence. I bit down hard on my bottom lip trying to hold the words in. We finally made it through without incident, and then the ice machine didn't pump out ice. We asked if there was ice in the back, and they just looked and said, "It's broken." Now why wouldn't they have told us that before they sold us three drinks?!?!?! I was near convulsions as the venomous words were begging to spew.
Business speaking, I would have been right. The manager would have been upset with his worker's attitude and service that night. I could have shared my opinions of the service and would have been justified. But thankfully, for a split moment, I looked down at my t-shirt. You know what it said? "First Baptist Church." I almost took it off so I could vent my frustration, but I couldn't. And then it hit me. My words could ruin everything. My speech could do more damage than construction. Did I have the right to ruin the reputation of my Lord over an attitude and simple sandwich? Of course not. So I smiled, walked out the door, and went home.
Oh God, help us control our tongues. Give us long lives. May we never ruin your name and reputation with words.
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