"you hypocrite"

Our waitress smiled from ear-to-ear and joked with my family. After taking care of our needs, she went to the next table and her smile disappeared. As she collected the man’s dirty dishes and refilled his glass with water, the man never looked up, never said a word, and never even acknowledged her presence.

What a lowlife.

Forgive me for being so harsh, but I don’t understand why people can’t muster a simple “Thank you” or a smile for one another, especially when the other person is serving them in some way.

I resisted the urge to walk over and lecture him on the common courtesies of life. I mean, it’s not like she wanted to be best buddies—he could at least acknowledge her presence and express a little gratitude.

And don’t give me that nonsense that she’s only doing her job. While that may be her job, she deserves to be treated with respect. And respect starts with at least acknowledging that she exists and is appreciated.

In searching for a passage that supported my point I found this one. Frankly, I don’t like what I found out about myself.

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”1

This hurts. After reading these verses it’s clear I’m no better than the man in the next booth. I realize now that I’m the lowlife. You know, “Mr. Perfect” judging others while overlooking my own deficiencies.

You see, I don’t “consider others better than” myself. Oh, sometimes that happens, but not very often. The truth is I’m usually focused more on me.

So, it’s with great regret that I admit that these next verses describe me well.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”2

Can somebody tell me how a blog entry that was intended to label the guy in the booth next to me as a lowlife actually revealed me as the lowlife?

Please forgive me as I abruptly stop writing. Otherwise, I might embarrass myself again. Plus, I’ve got a little work to do. You see, I’ve got this plank in my eye…

1  Philippians 2:1-4

2  Matthew 7:3