So I am a barista at Caribou Coffee here in Chicago. A barista is responsible for taking orders (easy), and making sure those orders get out promptly and in a quality fashion (less easy). Well for my first few months at Caribou I was responsible for the first step in this rather simple equation. Things went along smoothly as I calmly took orders and took care of simple coffee or pastry requirements and left the morning rush to the more experienced baristas. Well upon returning from Christmas break I learned that our branch had pretty much cleaned house which meant it was now my responsibility to take care of those nasty rushes on the bar (where we make your more extreme drinks). Saturday morning rolls around and my first test begins, and yes this is where the unprepared part comes in. I take my place at the bar and cringe as the rush begins. People begin lining up...my heart starts pumping faster than it ever should...and the sweating begins.
We got slaughtered. 8 point buck during deer season slaughtered. You see, during my first few months at the store I spent all of my free time humming one of the million songs I seem to always have stuck in my head rather than studying up on the 14536 drinks we serve at Caribou. The result was an utter lack of preparedness and embarrassment that reached every crevice of my 5'9 frame.
Now I could give more examples of this type of situation but I believe that last story made my point. The point being that when we choose to go into a situation unprepared we will undoubtedly get burned. Now in the example above the consequences were minor. I kept my job and even got better as the shift went on! There are situations, however, when the consequences can be far more destructive. I, unfortunately, have another real life example for this type of situation. Serious time.
CNN. One of the most commonly used sources of news for the people on this country if not the planet. I found my self perusing this website searching for a topic for my Research Writing course here at Moody when I stumbled upon something that hurt my heart. An article, near the top of the website, simply named, "Why I raise my children without God". The article was written by a mother of two living in Texas and it outlined the seven reasons that she chose to keep God out of their lives completely.
I read the article from start to finish and then began going through the comments (this iReport, as they are called on CNN, would draw the most comments ever) and was amazed at what I saw. Just in case you choose to not read the article some of her points included: God is a bad parent and role model, God is not logical, God does not protect the innocent, and God teaches narcissism. I was, quite frankly, unprepared. I was left even further in shock when I began making my way through the comments. Just as the people had poured into the coffee shop that fateful Saturday morning, people were pouring their support out for the author of the piece and I was left feeling rather helpless.
To make what could be a rather long story a bit shorter I will simply say that I eventually created my own CNN profile and began commenting on the post myself. Naturally, as a trained Bible scholar (I'm kidding, I'm a freshmen), I would have an easy time defending my faith to commenters on a blog post, right? Wrong. You see, the people commenting on this article were not simply people who could kinda sorta relate with this woman, but rather people who had been looking for an arena in which to battle against people like myself for what seemed like decades. One woman commented, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We are raising our two daughters without religion. We are excited to think that they will be free to live their lives without the burden of guilt, shame and fear that religion installs into it's followers. They are becoming wise, logical, compassionate and loving human beings. I can't wait for the day that being an atheist or just having a spiritual connection isn't looked down upon as harshly as it is today. I think it is funny that religious people aren't supposed to judge, yet they are the most judgmental people I meet." (COmom2). How do you respond to that!? Do you respond by telling this lady that God is the only source of true freedom? That God is not the hateful judge she seems to think she is? That the "religious people" she has met aren't truly the right type of religious people to go by?
There is an answer, but the only way that that answer will come to your lips to speak or fingers to type at the time it needs to is if you are prepared. I was not prepared. I had answers to the assertions that my God is not logical, loving, or a good parent, but I had no answer for the lady saying that the so called "Christians" she meets judge her instead of love her. The fact of the matter is that the people of this world have been led to believe that God is the author of destruction and depression rather than love and salvation and the only way their minds will be changed is to show that love in any and every way possible.
I feel obligated to put a simple plug in here for what the absolute wrong answer is. The wrong answer is to fight fire with fire, which is exactly what some people tried to do. They courageously posted comments saying that the author was dead wrong and proceeded to bash her in any way possible. Wrong. As easy as it can seem to lay into those that accuse our God of being anything less than the perfect, loving, almighty God He is, this is not what we are told to do. When Jesus is accused of being a sinner due to his association with sinners (Luke 15) Jesus does not respond by opening up the Heavens and allowing a host of angels unleash glorious havoc so as to prove His perfection, but instead tells parables that make His point clearly and concisely. We are called to do the same. Do not back down from an opportunity to defend our Savior, but instead be prepared through prayer and study and then speak lovingly and show the world what real love looks like.
In conclusion let me just say this. As the years continue to go by, the opposition to the message of salvation and God in general is going to grow exponentially. It's a fact. So put your armor on (Ephesians 6) and get out there all the while knowing you have an all-powerful God watching over each and every step you take.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
Ephesians 6:10-12
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