A Piece of our Minds – Tuesday, March 2^nd, 2021

Time for a little confession.

A few days ago, I had a disappointing interaction with a Dairy Queen cashier.  I say it was disappointing because I was basically a jerk to the poor employee.  It was definitely not one of my finer moments, but hopefully my failure might offer you a word of encouragement here today.

Before I share how big a punk I was, let me paint a picture for you.

It was late.  Not super late, just past our toddler’s bedtime late.  It was that time of day when as a parent you know you can be fun or you can be responsible, but you can’t be both.  My wife and I chose to be fun and so we took the kids out for ice cream even though that time of day was guaranteed to backfire on us in some form or another.

Things went well until we got to the DQ drive thru.  No one knew what they wanted. Basic decisions like vanilla or chocolate suddenly became earth-shattering, life-altering decisions.  Ideas were tossed around, shot down, and orders were changed.  As the driver, I’m not only juggling the orders in the car, but also trying to communicate with the cashier through the intercom while simultaneously feeling the pressure of the ever-increasing line of cars building up behind us.

Did I mention it was past our toddler’s bedtime?

Anyway, we finally got all the orders in and it was time to place my order.  I get the same thing every time I go to DQ.  Small vanilla sundae with hot fudge and caramel.

I’ve ordered this a million times (I wish I could say that was an exaggeration…)

This time, however, the young lady who has already had to deal with our crazy order tells me that she can’t do both.  I can have hot fudge or caramel, but I can’t have hot fudge and caramel.

In a moment of frustration, I responded with a snarky, entitled, “But I get this every time I come here.”

I realize as I’m typing those words they don’t sound like all that big of a deal.  In many ways they weren’t.  I didn’t yell at her, cuss her out, or accuse her of being bad at her job.  I didn’t ask for a manager or immediate supervisor.  It wasn’t so much what I said, but how I said it.  My words oozed with an entitled, snobby, I’m-the-customer-and-I’m-always-right sort of tone.

The moment I said, it the whole atmosphere of the car changed.  My wife gave me the ‘look’, the car got quiet, and the Holy Spirt pricked my heart.

I was right about the ice cream, but I was way wrong about the manner in which I responded to the person taking our order.

Was this an earth-shattering, make-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper sort of sin?

Not at all, but just because we can’t see how something as small as an unkind tone might affect someone, doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect someone.

You see, sin isn’t just what we do, it’s also what we don’t do.

Sure, I didn’t call her names or go out of my way to ruin her chances of a promotion there at DQ, but I also didn’t add any joy to her life.  My words didn’t offer any encouragement or hope, and they definitely didn’t reflect Jesus’ love for her in any life-giving sense.

My words weren’t all that mean, but they definitely weren’t meaningful either.

I was just another car, another order, another person making her day just a little bit tougher.

I share this story because I don’t think I’m the only one who has moments like this.  I share this because I don’t think I’m the only one who has had the opportunity to give grace and instead I give grief.  I had an opportunity to give respect, but instead I wanted to be right.  I had an opportunity to be patient and instead I gave that person a piece of my mind.

It’s that last statement right there – giving people a piece of our minds – that’s been eating away at me since this interaction.

Consider that statement – giving people a piece of your mind - as you hear these passages of scripture:

·     Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  (Colossians 3:2)

·     For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  (Romans 8:6)

·     Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  (Romans 12:2a)

Those are good to get us thinking, but let’s take things even further here:

·     Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 2:5 ESV)

·     1 Corinthians says, “For, ‘Who can know the LORD’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to teach him?’  But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16 NLT)

God hasn’t just made it possible for us to have new, renewed, transformed minds, but to actually have the mind of Jesus operating within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, let’s follow this line of thinking a bit further…

If we have the mind of Jesus and we’re going to give people a piece of our minds, shouldn’t we be giving them Jesus?  If we have the mind of Christ and we’re going to give people a piece of our minds, shouldn’t this mean good news for people?

Look, I know we all have good days, bad days, and everything in between.  I’m not going to beat myself up and heap guilt and shame upon myself.  There’s grace and forgiveness for us all – myself included. 

However, while I know I’m not that guy all the time –I was that guy in that moment, and this means I’ve still got room to grow.

And if I’m still growing, and if you’re still growing, maybe everyone else is still growing too?

Let’s start offering others the grace we know we ourselves still need.

Let’s start giving each other a piece of our mind – the mind of Jesus.