A great story about integrity and keeping the old nature in check visited me today.
A friend popped into a supermarket to buy some stuff and as they waited at the checkout they thought the person on the till had only rung up one of two items. They weren't sure, so when they got to the car they checked the receipt. They were correct, they'd been charged a fiver less than they should have.
Off they went to their appointment with someone who was buying something from them. When they arrived the person buying said that they were not prepared to pay the asking price but would pay five pounds less than the asking price. So the deal was done and my friend ended up with the same amount in his pocket as he would have done had he pointed out the error at the till and got the previously agreed asking price.
Having not told the buyer about the supermarket my friend came to the conclusion that there was a moral in the proceedings.
Lessons to be learned indeed :) .
5 comments:
Not sure that I’ve understood you correctly here, Vic!
If you are saying that there is a “natural” integrity evident in the supermarket “losing” £5 worth of value being compensated by the “customer” being deprived of £5 worth of value on the item he was selling, then I cannot agree with you. Incidentally, I doubt that the “customer” was OBLIGED to accept £5 less for the item he sold, since, as the vendor, he had the right to accept or decline £5 less.
If you are saying that there is a “natural” integrity evident in the supermarket “losing” £5 worth of value being equivalent to the “customer” being deprived of £5 worth of value on the item he was selling, then I can see your point.
God will surely have overseen that exchange but I hope that His justice is “more fair” than that. I understand that “the customer” may not have been able immediately to return to the supermarket to restore the £5 the supermarket had foregone, but an absolute failure to restore the £5 in their direction does not make the situation “right”. It disappoints me every time I hear someone say that big businesses can “afford” it – or that they have insurance to cover that sort of thing – or even that it “restores the balance” between the “wealthy” and the “poor”.
I loathe “unfairness”. I have always endeavoured to treat my children fairly and it makes me most unhappy when I find that, inadvertently, one of them benefits at the expense of the other. This handicaps me with reference to God, because I believe that, unlike me, He is not obliged to be “fair”.
For me, integrity is closely allied to fairness.
Beryl Polden
Wirral
I'm merely passing on the circumstances that have led to someone questioning his own integrity and musing on the fact that at the end of the day he'd come out no better off.
I think this is a lesson in self-awareness and a realisation that what the world does is not what we do.
Not making any values statements - just enjoying a young Christian's journey and the thought and attitude changes that come to be part of him on the Christian road.
If one has integrity then being unfair is not possible and justice, mercy, humility and the fruits all abound.
Quite simply, your friend, the supermarket customer, is a thief. He should have gone back into the shop and pointed out the error. Better still, he should have drawn it to the attention of the chashier at the time that he suspected a mistake had been made. It is your duty, as a priest, to poin this out to him and to let him know it't not too late to go back and set it right. Do it.
Already dealt with - but better than merely imposing my morality on the person, they saw the journey and the outcome and made their own 'right' co conclusions regarding their actions.
When dealing with new converts it is always better for these things to come to light and be addressed internally rather than merely have external forces apied. All part of restoring those caught in a sin 'gently' I guess.
On a wider note, I am always surprised at the amount of stealing (and other amazingly sinful acts) that occurs within the Christian world. Many, unlike our new believer, ignore it and remain unaffected by it. A simple incident and yet one whose influence will hopefully shape their Christan walk and personal behaviour for good.
Thanks for the Comments
The anonymous comments above cause me to think of John 8:7!
The point of the story - as Vic has explained - is surely the self-examination and realisation of this new convert: not an acceptance of the wrong act, but a story of his journey and one we have all surely made in one way or another.
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