We had such a good time giving the money at the coffee shop last time that i decided to do it again. This time I asked one of the most promising kids in the youth group, Dalton, to help out. He said he had been wanting to do the same thing for a while. He brought two friends and the four of us drove down to the Christian coffee shop in Wichita.
Dalton and I wrote a note that said something like, ‘don’t tell anybody who did this but use this money to pay for as many people behind us until it runs out. If anybody asks who to thank, tell them to just pass on the blessing.’
We got there and i tried to give the note and the money to Dalton but he wanted me to do it. We stood in line. The middle-aged woman at the cash register was new and was fumbling with the most basic transactions. Dalton turned to me and said, “maybe we should give it to the other girl or a manager or something.” I watched her for a moment and replied, “I think . . . um, I think it will be ok.”
As I got up to the front, our two other friends stood unassumingly behind me so that the other people in line could not see or hear what was going on. I handed the note to the woman. She read it without changing her expression and said, “ok.”
I set the pile of 20’s on the counter and she took it. She looked up at me and very briefly smiled. I ordered a coffee and a panini for my dinner. we all sat down and waited.
When my panini was ready I went up to get it and the middle-aged woman handed it to me and said, “That was amazing.” I smiled and said, “Thanks. This is the turkey?” she nodded. I saw down with the others.
None of us had a very good view of how the people reacted. But I felt like there were no significantly changed consumers. Dalton said he heard one man’s response. The man had said, “Um. Ok. Thanks.” and waited for his coffee i guess.
I felt like my experience here at the Christian coffee shop was less productive than the Starbucks i had gone to before. Did people expect more at a Christian coffee shop? they assume a Christians or Christian coffee shops should buy them coffee. Does the world expect more out of Christians? I would guess so. That makes our job harder. But that’s ok. God has given us creativity and blessings and talents and ways to find new methods or reaching them. Time to step up our game, Christians. Live radically. Be ready to sacrifice.
Raw Spoon
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