When it happened my immediate response to myself and to the attendant was, "What do we do now?" She immediately replied that she didn't know what happened, but it was okay, not to worry about it. I accepted that and gave her the $20.
It wasn't until later when I had more time to process it that I started to wonder if I had done the right thing. My greatest concerns were: 1. Did she have the authority to say it was okay? 2. Would she have to pay it herself? 3. What would Jesus do? I likely should have gone back that day to check it out, but (excuses) we were busy getting ready to go away and I didn't think I'd have much chance of finding the store manager(this was a Safeway gas bar).
Anyway I finally got back to the store today and talked to a manager. I told him what had happened, and that I am a Christian and the pastor of the Baptist church and for that reason I wanted to be sure that this was looked after properly. I told him that I was willing to pay.
The manager told me he had not heard anything about it(sounded like he thought he should have) and that he wanted to check into it with the gas bar manager. Then he wondered aloud why he hadn't heard anything and if there might have been some cover up. Now I'm feeling bad that I may have gotten someone in trouble by not dealing with it right away if that's the case. He thanked me, took my name and phone number and said he'd let me know.
Perhaps I should have done something different to begin with but it is usual that I need some time to think things through. I'm not great at spur-of-the-moment decisions. Regardless, I can't change that now. I believe I've done what I can now. I'll let you know how it turns out.
I do want to address some of the comments you made before I sign off. I disagree with the use of the verses from Romans 13. I don't believe I legally owed the money or that it was stealing as I didn't try to get away with it. I was told it was okay. When I turn the situation around to look at it from the other end I ask, If you were the business owner that made a mistake would you expect your customer to pay for it? I wouldn't and I don't think most people would.
On the other hand, I like what John K said about this being a great opportunity to be a witness for Jesus. In the end I decided I would rather be on the side of grace rather than law. I guess a verse that makes sense to me here would be to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Praying that God will somehow use this in my life, yours and the others involved.
Comments welcome!
Dave
1 comment:
Hi Dave,
Welcome back. I feel like I have a little egg on my face. I jumped to the conclusion that there would have been a dispute over the gas bill, in which case I hold to what I said I thought was the Christian thing to do. Unfortunately, I suffered from a certain amount of tunnel vision, not considering that the gas station would have willingly settled for the twenty dollars. I don't know why I didn't think of that side of things, because I would do it in my own business. I think if you offered, and the company took the initiative in saying, "No, all we will charge you is $20.00," you have done the right thing.
However, if you wonder whether it was right to accept more gas than you paid for, you could donate the difference to your church ;>)
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