May I Help You?

“Have a nice day!” Almost every service-sector employee manages to finish a service call or sales session with this friendly, innocuous statement. In most cases it is as meaningful as the “how are you?” asked by an acquaintance speeding past you the other direction on the sidewalk.

When I was in orientation at McDonald’s, roughly 25 years ago, that fast-food giant was king of customer service. I learned quickly how much difference it could make for a customer if I, the immediate of the golden arches greeted and treated him or her with respect and attentiveness. Everyone I served in that capacity would be treated like they were the only one that mattered at that moment. Smiles were common.

So imagine my frustration at being told a friend would call ahead to a place of business I needed to visit. “Sometimes customers feel ignored there; I want you to be treated right,” she said.

If there is anything that disturbs me more than poor customer service, it is special treatment that comes dependent upon “who one knows.” I don’t want to be treated better than the typical customer simply because I am recognized or a regular customer. In fact, it seems to me that the better new customers are treated, the more regular customers a business will have.

Let’s move on from customer situations to the point of this column. God doesn’t treat people better or love someone more based on who they know or how many times they have been to church. God is no respecter of persons, Paul wrote to the Romans.

So, how do God’s people fare? Do we prefer those we know? Do we treat some people better than others?

There are far too many in the church today for whom religion is nothing more than a spiritualized “have a nice day.” What would the world look like if those of us who are the church actively and eagerly pursued serving the world?