MY HEART HURTS

Those of you who know me know that I work in a Christian business that supposedly deals with Christian people. I say supposedly because not all people who profess to be a Christian are a Christian. Take this from first-hand experience.

In the move of closing my store, we ran across some invoices that were never posted on accounts. The customer took the invoice with them and know they are responsible. Unfortunately they were never posted to show up on a statement. We have no legal obligation to send them a statement. That is stated in our policy when they apply for accounts. It also stated that all money is due 30 days from the invoice... invoice, not statement. We know it was a mistake on our part. We issued letters to about 20 churches about this along with a copy of the invoice. We did have one church pay their invoice without a statement. Out of these 20 churches , most of them have come in or called to take care of the situation. One called yesterday and started off with attitude. She said she was not paying on behalf of her church, that it was never on a statement. I explained to her we don't have to send a statement that you are responsible for the money off the invoice. Well she had more lip to give me. I held mine because I wanted to say..." So your church is using stolen merchandise since it was not paid for" but I didn't . I remember my mom telling me that a soft answer turns away wrath. I went on to tell her we apologize for the mistake and by sending the letter we warning them that it will show up on next month's statement. DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID? No, you don't.... She told me, " YEP , IT IS YOUR MISTAKE AND YOU CAN PAY FOR IT?" I was heartbroken because the first thing in my mind was... What if Jesus said that to us? I did not say this to her but I told her she could call back and talk to the owner, in the mean time I had an authorized signature of a charge to her church. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE TOTAL WAS? No, you don't. It was for a measly $18. This woman ruined her Christian witness to me for $18.

Now my heart hurts because I keep dwelling on the statement, it is your mistake and you can pay for it. What kind of life would we have here on earth or for eternity if Christ had that attitude. We do not deserve his grace but he died for us on the cross for our mistakes. He didn't have to but he did. He could have said, handle your own mistakes, why should I die for your mistakes. I can only imagine that if he , which I know he did, heard that conversation that he was also heartbroken. I was devastated because I was supposedly dealing with a fellow christian. How can that woman use the items in her church in good faith knowing they were not paid for? With all that Christ did for us , how can anyone say that to anyone especially a Christian?


Also it puts you in an ethical situation that if you know you charged items and they did not show up on your statement, as a Christian do we say, oh great what a blessing or do we call the place and make it right. I am not perfect but I would rather have the clear conscience. I have been known to go back if I was not charged for something that I received. In part of her defense, she may not have received the invoice to know there was a charge, you know church protocol but once it was called to her attention shouldn't she have remedied it instead of being ugly and demanding and refusing to pay.... Thoughts to ponder and hearts to heal.