Sunday, February 10, 2008

Would You Like to Make a Donation?

"Welcome to Arby's, may I take your order?"
"Yeah, I'll have the #2 please, with a Coke."
"Will that be all?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Would you like to donate a dollar to the Foundation for Starving, Crippled Orphans with Malaria Fund, sir?"
"Uhhhh..." (looking around nervously and hoping no one's listening): "no, thank you."
(with a sigh of disgust): "Your total comes to $5.71."

I mean, it is only a dollar, right? Would it kill me to throw in an extra buck? Maybe my distaste for the question is less about the money and more about the principle: I want to say, "Listen, man, I just came here to eat lunch- take it easy!" But now, because I came expecting food (and not to solve world hunger on my lunch break), I have to choke down every bite feeling like a complete jerk and utter degenerate.

With that said, it makes me wonder what Jesus would have done- in the serious way, not in the ridiculous "I have a neon WWJD bracelet" kind of way. I mean, if my lunch meeting that day had been with Jesus, and He had been standing behind me in line when the guy asked me to chip in a buck for orphans- or hurricane victims- or, whatever, would I still stand on my conviction that "I came here to eat, not to be a servant"?

I'm not saying I'm convicted to open my wallet for every donation box out there; I'm not even saying Jesus would have put a buck in that Arby's jar... all I'm saying is: "am I willing?"