Chester Street Uniting Earth Ministry Lacuna Group


Christians and the Service Industry

Posted: 17/03/2009


 

Last months Insights magazine featured a short letter to the editor by someone who was concerned
at the way in which his Christian friends treated those in the retail service industry. During various
Cafe meetings this writer was exasperated at the disregard shown to employees by those professing
a Christian faith.
I wrote a short response to this letter (which probably won't get published) in which I boldly agreed with the sentiments this Man expressed. My feeling is that how Christians treat others within  environments like Cafe's, Supermarkets etc. is no peripheral issue. In fact, it might just well be the most imperative issue we need to address. It says so much more about the genuineness of our faith than we may initially think.
If I understand the social implications of the Gospel correctly, we are called, above all else, to uphold and respect the value and humanity of others. We are called to love the poor, oppressed and downtrodden, certainly.  This vital reality needs to be continuously affirmed and worked towards. Yet there is a sense in which love of this kind is easier, simply because it's so obvious that that's what we must do. When it comes to the fleeting, subtle social transactions that make up our day to day life, the practice of compassion, engagement and simple kindness becomes far more overlooked.  
Many is the time that I have been at a Cafe (or some other service-type place) with fellow Christians only to be dismayed at the dismissive way in which they have treated the employees. An example may be:
(tentatively smiling Cafe employee) Hey Guys, what can I get you?
(abrupt response from Christian) A Latte, two sugars.
The employee walks away and its back to a conversation about mission in a post-Christian context.
Like everyone else, many Christians have bought into the idea that in some contexts the need to treat others with dignity is of less importance. This may or may not be consciously realized. However, the need to uphold the value of humanity is (or should be) an indispensable feature of our shared faith. Without a praxis of love than translates into the ordinary, day to day experiences of life, our faith is empty rhetoric.

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