5:8 – Customer Service Matters

#faithbites #faithjourney customer

Intro

Fair warning, this #faithbites might be a little snarkier than normal as I’m ticked off. One of my pet peeves is when I don’t receive good customer service. I’ve been battling a large company who used to pride themselves on two-day free delivery and takes their name from the jungle of an enterprise, but I digress. The service that I have gotten has been terrible. It’s not that I want something free, it’s that they aren’t understanding the message I’m sharing nor are they responding in a helpful way. It’s just irritating.

Good customer service goes beyond fast food or service sector jobs. We all provide service when we serve the Lord. The question is how are we doing it. Are we serving our customers (friends, neighbors, community, family) in the way they want to be served and are we doing it in a loving manner?

Questions

• When you serve, do you accept feedback on your service?
• Are you taking the needs of the ones to be served into account?
• Do you escalate to a higher authority, when needed?

Scripture

• Ephesians 6:7-8 – Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
• Colossians 3:23 – Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
• Matthew 7:12 – So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Reflection

God tells us to do unto others as we’d have done to us. We want to be treated with respect, listened to, helped, and when appropriate bring in someone else to help if we can’t. That is the basics of customer service. Likewise, when we are serving, we need to act as if we are serving the Lord. Let that sink in for a second. When you are doing the dishes, you are doing the Lord’s dishes. When you take out the garbage, that’s God’s garbage. That laundry that’s been sitting not folded, that’s Jesus’s clothes. How does that change how you approach things? I know it does for me.

Yes, I’m snarky about the service I got today. But it has helped me to remember why I serve and how I can do better. And yes, I am far from perfect. I am just glad that Jesus forgives and helps me do better next time.

As we close, remember to serve as you are serving God and work to understand the needs of the person you are serving. It’s not easy, and no the customer isn’t always right, but God is and he wants us to serve well.

Prayer

Lord God, help us when we serve. You have shown us how powerful serving is. Your example is what we want to follow. Lord, help us to give the best service possible and when we don’t get good service, let us forgive as you forgave us. In your name, we pray, Amen.