J and I are working pretty hard evenings and weekends to get our house ready to list, and in the midst of the work I have become very aware of the spiritual analogy.  Once I began viewing the house as I imagine a potential buyer would, our nice, comfortable home has transformed into a to-do list filled with things like light fixture updates, fresh paint here and there, and multiple small-scale upgrades.  Assuredly, those projects did not sprout up overnight, but with a busy schedule and a lot of life changes over the years, we just didn’t notice them or, probably in most cases, just got used to them.

It’s easy to target a specific event, such as a house showing, and put in the preparation and time to make it perfect.  Much harder to maintain every nook and surface to constant perfection.  And certainly, much higher priority tasks work their way into our days.  But how easy it is to think that if something has escaped our focus until now, we can fix it in secret and no one else has ever noticed it.  We often walk, or sprint, through our days with tunnel vision, even when the tasks of the day are good and noble.  I must accept the likely fact that everyone who’s walked through the door has noticed the same things I’m now seeing through new eyes.  As Mom told me repeatedly when I was little, “Someone is always watching you.”  In those days, she was reminding me to behave in public because it was always possible that the stranger on the street was actually a patient of my dad’s who had perhaps seen my picture in his office and knew who I represented.  Misbehavior wouldn’t reflect well on me or my family, and so it wasn’t tolerated.  I didn’t always succeed without correction, but I learned early that even a careless comment can have a lasting impact.

My home improvement project of the day was to make something pleasant out of an empty bedroom.  I didn’t have a spare bedroom suite, so I needed to transform the room into something else, creating big impact from a small budget.  I opted to create a proper craft room, and it has turned out well enough that I regret not setting up the room that way from the beginning.  Today I needed a fair number of decorative odds and ends to finish it off, so I was in and out of several stores all day.  One sizeable store was pretty busy, so there were several checkout lanes open when I went up to pay.  I headed to the shortest line, but I still had to wait behind a few others, so I had time to watch the cashier.  I saw her tags and realized she was actually the customer service manager, helping out at the registers due to the particularly busy day.

Now I’ve had a long history of teaching and working with customer service, from a number of angles, so I was intrigued.  The store itself has a great reputation, and I was about to be taken care of by one of their designated leaders so I was ready for an exceptional experience.  It was certainly memorable, but not particularly pleasant.  She didn’t once make eye contact with me or even greet me.  Instead, she plonked the “Lane Closed” sign on the counter behind me and rang up my items with grim determination, periodically calling (yelling) over several lanes to the cashier who needed her to key approval on a return, saying, “I’ll be there in a minute, I can’t get away yet.”  When another employee approached, they had a detailed conversation about the scheduling problems of the day, with the cashier/manager saying over my head “Everyone needs me but I can’t get away, and I have to leave in 5 minute or I’ll be in overtime.”  Now, all of those things were probably true.  But her words and attitude all gave the uniform impression that I, as a customer, was a serious inconvenience at that moment.  Trying to keep a positive attitude, I offered to wait while she took care of the other cashier.  Still without looking at me, she declined saying unconvincingly “I’d hate to make you wait”, finished my transaction, and handed me the receipt while already walking away, saying in a rapid monotone “Thankyouandhaveagreatday”, words that had the ring of rote memorization, with no true wish of goodwill.

It wasn’t a horrible experience, but it wasn’t a good one, either, and in no way did I feel like a valued customer.  In fact, if I didn’t need my items to get on with my project today, I would have been strongly tempted to walk away empty-handed.  I did consider sending an email to the store, giving them chapter and verse on the hallmarks of customer service (basically “make your customer feel like your top priority, and keep your back office issues in the back office”), but I decided to take it as a personal lesson instead.  I’ve been through some tough stuff myself lately, and I really do understand that personal circumstances can so overwhelm you that it’s difficult to focus on the task at hand.  I appreciate the grace that’s been extended to me, and it has been a reminder to do the same for others.  Perhaps this girl is spectacular 364 days out of the year.  However, today wasn’t that day, so the other part of the lesson is confirmation that my mother was right.  Someone is always watching you.

How can we possibly bear up under such pressure, when we have these feet of clay?  We can’t.  He can.  The key is to let Him make us ready ahead of time.  Instead of a rushed struggle to spiff it up, stand up straight, do it right once I realize eyes are upon me, I must train, practice, study, and maintain as I go, nourishing myself on His word.  I must grow in maturity, not toddle with the same baby steps year after year.  If I’ve allowed Him to stock me full of grace, it’s the most likely thing to spill out under pressure.  If I publicly state that I’m a Christian, I’ve identified myself as His child, and I represent him everywhere I go.  I want to do that job well, not because I fear punishment if I don’t, but because as was true when I was a child, I love my Father, and I want others to hold him in the highest respect as well.  I like 2 Corinthians 5:20 in the Message translation:

God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

I’ve blogged about the topic of Customer Service before, but I think the lesson is slightly different this time.  Then, my awareness was accomplishing the task itself: Loving one another.  Today, I was reminded of the importance of how we approach the task; mindfully, and with a soberness along with our smiles.  The forgiveness of our sins is a matter of great rejoicing, but I think we do well to remember that the Great Commission is serious business.  We can live for Christ joyfully, but we cannot do it casually.  May we stay sharp and focused, ready and willing to serve, remembering that this earthly experience is temporary, a fleeting moment in light of the Eternity to come.