Pursuing the undervalued fruit of kindness

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Chick Fil A. My appreciation for them goes beyond how delicious their waffle fries and spicy sandwich (extra pickles) are. It's because I've yet to ever go there where I haven't been met with a friendly and attentive staff. Sure there have been times the order has gotten messed up. Most of the time it's because it's always busy and mistakes happen. Other times it's because I chalk it up to Providence that I was intended to have something else.

That's what made today's conversation with the drive thru staff so impactful. Here's how it goes:

"Order for Scott, egg white grill with jelly. I hope it's ok, we're actually out of jelly right now."

"Oh yeah that's fine. It happens!"

"Thanks for saying that. I just got cussed out for not having jelly. Lady screamed at me that she wouldn't have ordered had she known."

"You mean someone got that angry and screamed and cussed you out... over jelly?"

"Yeah. It happens way more than you'd realize."

How sad. How disappointing. And of all people to have that happen to someone who still has to serve with a smile and a "my pleasure."   On what planet is a plastic packet of jelly worth losing your bananas over? The worst part was that for that CFA employee, it was just another Thursday for her.

It's no secret in the restaurant industry that servers and staff least want to work one shift (hint: it's not Friday night happy hour or Saturday double shifts). It's Sunday lunch. Don't believe me? Ask anyone who works in the restaurant or service industry. The same people who sing about the goodness of God and how grace is amazing are the same people who have a reputation for berating waitstaff, being overly difficult with their orders, and leaving corny tracts in place of tips.

One of the undervalued fruit of the Spirit is kindness. We focus on the others, but in the middle of a list of fruits that result from new life is a simple word: kindness. It's a lacking fruit among far too many of us who claim the name of Jesus. None of us are immune. In fact I'd say I'm not the only one who's had a frustrating experience and then had to walk it back with an apology. That's some humble pie to have to eat. But when we fire off comments on Facebook that function like a knife rather than an edification, when we rudely dismiss someone serving us for lunch, or when we blow off someone we pass by, we're serving rotten fruit.

The heart of kindness goes all the way back to Eden. There we're told that humanity is created in the image and after the likeness of God. There is, as theologians have described, a "spark of the divine" in each person. That image bearing doesn't cease. It doesn't cease when you get Diet Coke instead of Coke. It doesn't cease when you get cut off in traffic. It doesn't cease when you don't get grape jelly with your chicken biscuit.

Mark out your life this week with kindness. Kindness isn't fake and kindness isn't over the top. The subtlety of kindness is that it's found in the simplest ways of courtesy and dignity. It's honoring the "spark of the divine" in someone else and speaking to them in a way that magnifies that dignity, not belittles it. It echoes the words of Paul in Colossians 4 that the way we speak be "seasoned with grace."

​You never know, the person you show that kindness to might have just been cussed out for something as simple as not having jelly.