Lessons Learned from a Scammer

About two weeks ago Morgan and I were having a delicious pizza dinner when we received a knock at the door. It was a young man working for a group called KLMN Reader Services. He said it was a work program to help people get back on their feet and find work (they were selling magazines). When I asked how he got connected with this company, he replied that he had been out of work for a while and saw an ad in the paper for a sales position with them. He seemed like a very nice guy, but I was definitely wary about the whole thing. Perhaps it's the cynic in me, but I just had a bad feeling about the situation. He had a really shady looking clipboard sheet about the company and receipts that didn’t look very legitimate. I ended up giving him a check for $20 for a subscription that’s supposed to go to the hospital down the road.

As soon as he left, though, I went inside and “googled” the company. It seems that I wasn’t the first to be scammed by these people. There’s report after report of people getting ripped off by this company and their workers and every story sounds about the same. People never received magazines, couldn’t get refunds, the phone numbers for the company were not legitimate - they even tried drawing funds of $70,000 from the account of one lady who wrote a check to them.

I immediately had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. At that point, it wasn't so much about the loss of money, but the violation of trust between two people. I think God uses moments like this, though, to remind me that I'm called to something greater than guilt over the loss of $20. I guess if we hold a right view of our resources, the money was God's to lose anyways.

The lesson for me laid more in the calling we have as Christians to give all people the dignity and respect they are due as children of God, despite their efforts to deceive. My gut reaction was that this guy was a liar, a cheat, and definitely a scammer. All of my common sense told me this. But something else made me stay on the porch a little longer and hear him out, and I think it nothing less than God's work in my own life to change my heart towards others. I suppose that it's not so much about whether or not we avoid injustice being done to us (albeit this was very minor), but more about how we honor God in the ways we interact with and even think about other people. I, too, am a liar, cheat, and scammer . . . that's the reality of my own fallenness. And so, if it were to happen to me again, I hope that I would be wise with the money God has given me, but also extend the same love that God has extended to me.

That's the lesson I learned from a scammer.

Long Week

So here I am on Thursday night . . . and boy has this been a long week. I've been up pretty late several nights preparing for our InterVarsity area conference (222) this weekend. I was up on campus this evening for the alternative thanksgiving dinner sponsored by the Campus Ministries Council and the service following (which was hosted by InterVarsity). I thought it went really well - I felt the Spirit move during worship . . . one song in particular, "Surrender," stuck out to me (just feeling like I'm in a good place of dependence on God right now):

I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life

And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, all to you

I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain

Our speaker was great, too. He talked about suffering and thankfulness and the hope we have in Christ. After the service was over, I checked my phone and saw that Morgan had tried to call serveral times throughout the service (in addition to texting me, which she never does). A little concerned, I call her back to see what's going on and find out that her grandfather had just suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Definitely not helping to ease any stress around the Murray home . . .
Spent some time with Morgan this evening just letting her cry, remembering some funny stories and how good a man her grandfather was (he was known as Big Daddy - how's that for southern?). He was a double amputee and, in spite of what doctors told him, was able to walk, drive, and get around with two prostheses. Pretty amazing!
He was also really sweet . . . after Morgan had surgery last spring, he drove through rush hour traffic (which he hated) to bring us a home-cooked dinner. I didn't know him well, but the time that I did spend with him left an impression of someone incredibly warm and caring - and he always had a good story to tell about him and his "buddies."

Stuff like this really puts into perspective what's important in life. All that concern about the details of the conference this weekend seem pretty insiginificant now.
Needless to say, this weekend is going to be a little crazy . . . bouncing back and forth between the conference in Hampton and any funeral arrangements hear in Richmond.

Your prayers would be much appreciated for Morgan, me (to love her well during this time), and Morgan's family.