Press One Now
My apologies to my loyal readers for missing my usual article posts last week (both of you). I had to travel out of town on business.
I flew to Birmingham, AL for business on a Delta flight, code share Northwest Airlines. “Code share” is a technical term airlines use in order to provide the least amount of customer service with absolutely no accountability. “No accountability” is a technical phrase blog writers use to describe an airline which has ceased to understand anything related to customer service. “Customer service” is a foreign word to companies such as Delta or Northwest, primarily because if you call their customer service you will be calling a foreign country where they speak a mixture of Swahili, Scandinavian, and Elmo, a true assortment of dialects with improper punctuation or syllable emphasis.
Press One Now if I should be sorry.
Press Two Now if I am a bit old fashion.
Press Three Now if you share my opinion.
Now please note: I have absolutely no problem talking with someone who speaks Swahili, Scandinavian, or even Elmo, but if they are providing customer service to an English speaking American, I would prefer they also spoke English. I may be going out on the limb here, but if you work in a job where communication is the key factor, shouldn’t you be able to communicate clearly?
When I called customer service to extend my stay in Birmingham by one day, I would have never guessed my telephone call would have lasted as long as my original flight to Birmingham.
First, to reschedule my return flight, I have to navigate a complicated telephone menu system, beginning with “Press One if you would like service within five hours, Two if you would like service within five days, and Three if you have no hope whatsoever of finding the solution for your telephone call.”
After spending thirty minutes traversing the touchtone menu network, I am politely told the telephone call will be recorded for training purposes. I am curious how low your level of customer service must get before you begin a program to train people to be your customers.
Press One Now if I should be sorry.
Press Two Now if I am a bit old fashion.
Press Three Now if you share my opinion.
Of course, rescheduling my return flight home required a non-refundable fee of $150.00, in addition to whatever ticket price adjustments and taxes might be applicable. For this, they wanted my credit card number. I asked them if they had my Skymiles account or my original ticket, which both reference my credit card number. They said they needed me to provide the credit card number again, which was a slight inconvenience since I had to wait so long to get a human being the card had expired.
I wanted to provide them with my VISA, “code share” American Express credit card number.
When I read Scripture, I know Paul went through many suffering trials, yet I just now realized they were usually during his travels. He was shipwrecked, left to die, stoned (thrown at him, not smoked), imprisoned, and in so many ways tortured. Here is a man who knows suffering and can tell us about it. He shares in Romans 5:3-5, “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
I know what challenged Paul far outweighs a Delta/Northwest customer service experience, which brings me to a point of wanting whatever source of strength Paul had to get him through his distress. If Paul’s source of power was able to bring him through and deliver him in everything he experienced, I only need a sip of what he was drinking in on a regular basis.
Where do we find this supply?
Hebrews 12:2-3 tells us to, “…fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Dealing with a Swahili, Scandinavian, and Elmo speaking Delta service representative after navigating hours of telephone menus and touchtone buttons can cause anyone to grow weary and lose heart, and often in our lives today, it does not take anything spectacular to get us to a point of breakdown.
We do not know suffering, pain, or anguish in the way Christians before us endured torment or affliction. We cry about broken nails, cell phone reception, and postage stamp increases. We complain about traffic, red lights, and road construction. We get mad when our newspaper is late, our air conditioner doesn’t work, or our coffee got cold before we had a chance to drink it. We are a spoiled people, expecting others to speak to us in our own language and on our own terms.
By fixing our eyes on Christ, what do we see? The Author and Perfector of our faith, the One who gives us our faith and works it out in our lives. The One who gives us His strength. The One who suffered far more than anyone can describe or comprehend, and yet loves us through it all. He died for a reason: we matter to Him. He speaks our language perfectly, as He speaks to our hearts. No telephone menus. No dialects. No waiting.
When we fix our eyes on Jesus, our sufferings pale in comparison, for he endured such opposition from sinful men so that we will not grow weary and lose heart. There is nothing we will endure that will come close to what He endured on our behalf. There is no trial, no pain, no torment larger than Him, nor greater than what He suffered.
My suffering is nothing. I find myself in a position to confess my complaining as a sinful reaction and fix my eyes on Jesus.
What about you?
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Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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