Breakfast With the Seargent.

Just a quick little happening from this morning. I was in the DFAC this morning sitting at a table alone and a Sgt. who I have known for a while now came walking down towards me smiled and asked to sit down. Sure I said, have at it.

Now in my mind I was thinking, oh no, not him. See this Sgt has visited me several times regarding the Bus Mission here on the base. He had several issue sthat he wanted resolved and he always was very forceful and kinda in your face. Not that he was to hard to handle but still very aggressive.

The main issue was that he at one time got very angry at one of my drivers. He felt that the driver was not driving properly. That he was not controlling the other people on the bus properly and that he was eating potatoe chips instead of watching the road. The problem was that he took matters into his own hands and scared the driver by going around to the front of the bus and opening the door. He then proceeded to yell at him and then slam the door.

Now the subsequent investigation, the Major wanted a name so he could discipline who ever it was. We had no way of knowing as we had not gotten a name of the Soldier. Well as fate would have it, the day I was shaving my head, the this Sgt had come to complain about the driver a few night before he had yelled at. Here was the guy I was looking for and he was now describing in detail what he did. This is where my concern comes in. He used terms such as your little foriegn bus driver, and that na ne na ja language they speak. The whole tone of the conversation stunk of bigetry. Well, needless to say, I turned him in to the Major and they were looking to discipline him.

Now I was eating breakfast and here he came, sitting down and joining me. I thought that the conversation would be about the situation I described above. I held my breath and waiting. surprisingly it moved to religion and Christianity. We spoke a bit about our lives and things such as Discipleship and small groups. What kept popping in my head though was that this man was also a biggot. He was a Christian and a biggot. This kept striking me as odd.

Now you can't be both according to the Bible. You can't love your white nieghbor and not your Phillipino nieghbor it just doesn't work. He talked about the Gospel but it didn't match up to his language and attitude. Lots of this was just not computing in my mind.

Anyway, we made it through the conversation without him wanting to kill me for turning him in to his command. We actually had a nice conversation regarding our faith. Shook hands and parted ways. I just kept thinking that there was a problem here. How many others have this view. How many other Christians act this way, saying one thing and doing another. How many times do I do it and do people see it. Wow, what if in some way I am like him. What if you are?

Following Christ and applying the Gospel to our lives are essential to being a Chritian. We can not read the commands of Jesus and then not try to put them into practice in our lives. We can not hear on Sunday to hold our tongue and then swear like a Sgt. the rest of the week. We can't see the love of Jesus for us and then not give that same love to others. It just isn't right. We are called to have practical application into our lives. Nothing else will do.

Look at yourself and ask, as I ask myself, where am I at. Am I saved and a follower of Christ or am I not. Did I slip back and need to ask for forgivness or do Ijust think it is ok to sin. Assess this and adjust your heart, adjust your life as necessary.

Lord, I pray for my life and others, that we may be examples of you in all things. That we set in our heart all of your commands and live our lives accordingly.