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Sacramento Central SDA Church

Chris Buttery

Congruence to Influence

Some of us may have had an easier week than others.

Some of us may have had just a typical normal week but God is still good and we are here to worship and praise Him and give Him honor and glory.

Now when you go shopping, and of course We wouldn't do that today, but if we go shopping, it's normal expectation that when you receive quality customer service from the retailer you're thinking about doing business with.

There are retailers, of course, who pride themselves on the fact that they put the customer first and that their representatives are qualified to offer professional advice.

Every now and then our expectations are lowered.

We walk into a store thinking we're going to be treated fairly decently, have our questions answered and find the help we need only to be met with a casual carefree employee that makes you feel like you're taking up their precious time.

Oh yes I got a witness out there, okay, but what if you entered a store looking for that certain product where coldness and indifference were the least of your concerns because the customer service representative verbally abused you?

Now you didn't do anything wrong, that's right, you weren't rude, you didn't do anything to provoke a crude response but you got 1 anyway so you sent in a kindly worded but direct letter to the manager complaining only to be met by a scolding response which encourages you to take your business elsewhere.

You probably wouldn't shop there again would you?

Well it happened to a particular lady shopper and I'm ashamed to say it took place in Australia of all places.

The name of the lady was Kira and she went shopping for bridesmaids dresses for her upcoming wedding.

Kira said that the retail associate who served her, his name was Chris.

Chris was nice at first but then he got mean when he realized she wouldn't be purchasing anything on that particular day.

Chris made fun of her size 12 body and yelled at her that she was a joke the minute she walked into the store.

But instead of the store apologizing or even being halfway decent when Kira sent in a complaint, The area manager of this store took the whole thing to a new level of disgracefulness.

I want to read to you the letter that the manager sent to Kira.

Having now had the privilege of having both versions of events, I am now in a position to respond to your complaint.

From the very outset, 1 thing that you should be mindful of is our product offerings are very, very carefully selected, so to ensure that we do not appeal to a broad customer base.

This is something which is always at the forefront of our minds when undertaking buying duties.

The reason for this is to ensure that we only carry products which appeal to a very fashion-forward consumer.

This by default means that the customer whom is acclimatized to buying from clothing for the masses type retailers is almost frightened by our range.

Sometimes we have found that this type of customer almost finds our dresses funny.

And on occasion, noted comments such as, it looks like a dead flamingo.

Now when we receive comments like this we like to give ourselves and our buyers a pat on the back because we know we're doing our job right and our modus operandi is being upheld our range is worn by a list of celebrities the likes of Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry, to name only a few.

Now as 1 might appreciate, the style council for these types of celebrities are not 1 to pick run-of-the-mill type clothing and they do so on the basis to ensure that their styles are cutting-edge and only worn by a select few.

Similarly these items are priced such that they remain inaccessible to the undesirable.

In so far as our employee goes, similar to our product offerings, our employees are selected with a similar approach.

Chris, whom served you, is a qualified stylist whom has a sixth sense for fashion and Chris's only problem is that he is too good at what he does and as I am sure you are aware people who are talented generally do not tolerate having their time wasted which is the reason you were provoked to leave the store.

Whilst I concede that you work for a chain retailer, unfortunately that does not make us like for like.

It is probably fair to assume a lot of what I have said in this email either does not make sense to you or you totally disagree with all of it which is what I would expect unless of course I have you totally wrong which I doubt.

Let me guess you would never ever hire Chris in the course of your duty would you?

This is the very reason why your comment from 1 retailer to another is so disproportionate.

It's almost as though we are in totally different industries.

Chris is a retail superstar who possesses unparalleled ability and I'm sorry you felt you feel upset by him but He knew you were not going to buy anything before you even left your house.

So, if you would like to do us any favors, please don't waste our retail staff's time because you have already seen that we will not tolerate it.

I'm sure there are plenty of shops that appease your taste, so I respectfully ask you to sidestep our store during future window shopping expeditions." Thank you for your inquiry.

What were Chris and the area managers missing apart from a heart and a brain what were they what were they missing they ran dry on common courtesy and decency didn't they we could say they lacked basic etiquette skills do you know what etiquette is We've got a definition for you up here on the screen.

Etiquette is the forms required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life.

Now etiquette has to do with decorum and 1 of the definitions of decorum is good taste in conduct or appearance.

Now we are the church, the children of the most high God, representatives of Christ the King on planet Earth, and as Peter put it in 1 Peter 2 verse 9, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that is distinct people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Show forth His praises and if there is anyone on earth that should have good taste in conduct and appearance, it ought to be God's people, amen?

As God's people, we have been chosen to show forth God's praises or demonstrate His grace in our lives.

Now, this testifies to the fact that we have come out of darkness into His marvelous light.

This reveals that God is good and He has been good to us you see.

It is for His honor and His glory that our lives show that we have been changed and that we are not what we used to be.

Now the idea that Christians to have good taste in conduct and appearance doesn't undermine God's saving grace.

When we start talking about things like this, conduct and appearance, some folk get a little bit nervous and apprehensive, fearing that we're promoting a salvation by works type of theology.

I think some people just seem to have a small idea of what grace is all about and what it can actually do for the individual.

In Titus chapter 2, and you're welcome to turn there, Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through 14, the Bible teaches us or tells us what grace will teach us.

The Bible says, For by grace, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, grace teaches us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." That's what grace does.

Grace helps us see things the way God sees them you see.

Friend, talking about how a Christian conducts themselves does not undermine God's grace.

Oh no, instead it props grace up and it shows us that what grace can accomplish, given we allow grace to have its way in our lives.

Now sure, doing good things never saved a person because doing good things doesn't give you a new heart and a new mind.

Only Jesus Christ can do that for us, amen?

We are saved by grace, the Apostle Paul says, and not by works, you see.

But what does that grace do for and in the believer it works itself out You see in the life of the believer in Ephesians 2 verse 10.

He says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works and so grace works in the believer.

Grace is not grace, friends, if it doesn't change the life and teach us to live godly, righteous, wholesome lives.

Anything less than that is not grace and it is not the gospel but a counterfeit you see Jesus implied that in Matthew 24 in verse 14 he's talking about the signs of things we're going to see before he comes back and he says something interesting in verse 14 of Matthew 24 he says and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a..." Do you remember what it says?

"...for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come." The end will come, Jesus will come when the gospel is preached to the world, but not only just preached, but preached as a witness, you understand.

Coupled with the preaching of the gospel is the living of the gospel.

It's hard to be a General Motors salesman, a spokesperson, if you just enjoy driving Honda.

I mean it's tough for you to sell PCs if you're in love with Max And it's hard to share the good news of Jesus Christ and his undying love for lost humanity when that love has not transformed our hearts and our lives.

So to effectively communicate the gospel, our lives must also testify to the power of that gospel we are proclaiming.

There must be congruency between the deeds, the creeds that we believe, and the deeds that we practice, you see.

Congruency in our lives between deeds and creeds, if we hope to exert a positive influence in the world for the gospel's sake.

Congruence to influence for the gospel's sake, amen?

And that can only happen by what, friends?

So as God's people, we are to show forth the praises of Him, and 1 way we do that in our lives is by having good taste in conduct and of course in appearance.

Therefore, it is not surprising to find God's last day people operating under grace that reveals itself in a similar attitude to that of King David.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 101, if you'd be so kind.

Psalm 101 and we'll look at verse 2 together.

God's people will be operating itself under grace Revealed in an attitude similar to that of King David.

Psalm 101 verse 2 he says in just the first part he says I will what friends what's that word behave kind of sounds like what your mother would tell you right you better behave yourself but David says I will behave myself what friends wisely in a perfect way or it could be said in a or I will be successful that's another way to translate that as the Hebrew verb implies what a great motto for the Christian to behave ourselves wisely or to be successful in all that we do for the kingdom of heaven's sake.

We must understand that there is a direct connection between our behavior as Christians, you understand, and our success in accomplishing God's mission for His church.

There is a direct connection between our behavior as Christians, Seventh-day Adventist Christians, and our success in accomplishing our God-given mission as a church.

Put another way, how we conduct ourselves in our daily lives will be the determining factor, will be a determining factor in how fruitful we will be as a church in God's service.

This is a vital point to remember, especially as we come up to our church's major outreach effort for this year.

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Congruence to Influence

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