"Are You Going To Pay For That?"

It's a typical morning at your retail job. The rest of your coworkers are preforming their day in and day out routines-greet the customer, ask if they need assistance, and direct them to purchasing AT LEAST something. You are at your assigned station stocking meaningless merchandise wondering about what you are going to make for dinner that night since you have to feed a family of four and make sure everyone is satisfied. Right as you are about to put that last item in line, you notice a young man to your left further down the isle. He is wearing a dark hoodie that is pulled over his head and he is glancing side to side as if to see if anyone is watching. Quickly, he snatches an item from the shelf you worked on earlier that day. Without a blink he hides it in his small backpack that blended in perfectly with his hoodie, making it impossible to notice. You can't believe this! You just witnessed theft! You don't have time contact your manager because you know they are way too busy with something else in the front of the store. You have to act before he gets away! You have to do something! Although you don't necessarily care for you're minimal pay job, you will not let that stop you from honoring the company that took the chance in hiring you! Before he leaves the isle, you shout, "HEY! ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THAT?!" Your voice is loud and bold although you are shaking in your boots on what is going to happen next. You've never bluntly confronted someone like this before, but what is the worst that could happen right? Surprisingly, the young man doesn't race off like you would expect, so you have a reassurance of authority and "a deed well done". Instead, he walks calmly your way...you await his apology and for him to hand over the stolen item....he now stands two feet away from you...you put out your hand to retrieve the item...but he doesn't give it to you...You watch as he reaches in his hoodie pocket and pulls out a gun...aiming it directly at your chest...

I thought about this exact scenario one morning as I do work in retail where theft does happen. We have never experienced such extremes but I am sure someone somewhere has. In which case it would be absolutely horrifying! What really grasped my thought process in this imaginative case however where these words, "Are you going to pay for that?"

Are you going to pay for that?

In retail it's something we don't say a lot but keep our eyes open for. For the shopper, it's more phrased as, "Am I going to pay for that?" The response can either be a yes, no, or later. That later depending on the convenience to ourselves and our wallets.

In life it's something we don't ever say but we feel a lot. When someone does us wrong, when someone didn't live up to their words or standards. For the individual, sometimes it is phrased as, "am I going to pay for that?" The guilt gnaws on our consciousness and we more often than not chew on our tongues than let the burden(s) go.

If you have a Bible check out Luke 22 or click to follow link.
As an unbeliever/someone investigating Christianity, I want you to read this with this statement in the back your mind, What is the cost?
As a new believer/follower of Jesus, I want you to read this with this statement in the back of your mind, How do I pay the cost?

Summary of Luke 22:
Two of Jesus's closest friends betray him, Jesus has his last meal before his brutal death, Jesus prays earnestly, He is arrested & put through brief/humiliating "trials"

• What are the similarities between the fictional story I presented to you in the beginning of this blog and this non-fictional one?

What is the cost?

="And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."-verses 19-20

{images taken from Bing Images}

Some people like to focus on what Jesus looks like-was He white with chiseled features and golden brown hair? Was he darker toned with dark rich eyes? No one knows. And why should we care? What we do know is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, lived in Egypt for a few years and did ministry all over Israel. He is was also a Jew.

Sometimes the image of Christ helps people identify more with Him; in which cases I have no problem with. The problem comes in when we concentrate so much on the details as such that we lose the whole gist. Recall our beginning story, note the features I gave for thief. It was a young man wearing a dark hoodie pulled over his head. He also had a small backpack that matched his hoodie's color. What I didn't note was this boy's color or ethnicity. In America, I feel like too many times it would be easy for us to immediately guess an African American man did it. And if the scenario involved a bomb instead of a gun, I feel like too many times we would assume a Middle Eastern person was the culprit.

I understand such profiling is needed in some cases but this type of stereotyping has built societies to have preconceived biased beliefs of other parties. We assume what a handful of people have done the whole will do. This is not true and must end. The same can be applied to Christianity and Christians.

What profile do you have projected in your mind when I mention Jesus,The Church, The Bible?

Such things, if not founded on Truth, can and will distort your image giving you the wrong answers to the question I first asked: Are you going to pay for that?

Are you going to pay your attention to what media, organized religion, and/or what another hypocritical person has told you? Or are you going to pay your attention to your own investigations, interactions, and studies?

Little details like what hair Jesus had, how many colors were really in Joseph's multi-colored robe, the world being created in 6 days, Noah on an ark with every created animal while the Earth flooded may come in handy in rare occasions but you're missing the point. It is about what was done and why not necessarily how or who.  

So what was done?: A crime
The crime?: You broke the law and did not pay 
What law was broken?: You stole ( The Eighth Commandment) 
What was the punishment?: Death 
Who paid for it?: The Coworker of the store=Jesus

Read Romans 2-3

Only you can answer the question of How do I pay the cost, for it is based on a personal inter-reaction.

Truth is we've all been in the shoes of the young man in my story, for it is the reason Jesus's story was shared for/with us. We may have not necessarily stolen from a retail store and put a gun to somebody's chest, but our crimes/sins/disobedience/disregard for God's Truth did put Jesus, His Son, to death-the punishment we were/are meant to have. 

People get all messed up about who put Jesus on the cross. Truth is we all did because we all are sooo deeply loved by God, our Heavenly Father, that He took the fall for us.

Finish this contemplation with reading Ephesians 3
..."Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

This is the Good News, nothing less and nothing more. Let it be so.

{Taken from Bing}