We're all in this together

Working in the hotel business has been funny. It's made for the perfect in-between job for me this spring/summer (except for the hours. Nights. Learning experience).

One thing that makes the hotel business go is special events. Few people travel just for the heck of it. Luckily here in Ames we have lots of random things going on. Many times events and conferences are the same every year, so we know to expect this group from such-a-place and they'll want rooms by the pool for so-and-so and cook extra such-and-such for breakfast because they eat lots of those. For example: two weeks ago was the Special Olympics. Last week was this event for smart kids called Odyssey of the Mind. Both had about the same amount of fussy adult supervision. The Olympians ate a lot more for breakfast, though.

Which brings us to this week. We have a full hotel yet again with a bunch of pastors and lay-leaders for a certain state wide Christian conference going on in town. I'm not going to say what affiliation or anything. The problem is, this group of people is notorious for making things just a little difficult for the hotel. Lots of people with particular requests and changes that we have to make.  There are entitled to have a good stay that meets all their expectations, sure.  But something is wrong when your manager tells you at the beginning of the week, "oh no, this is going to be a hard week, I don't like it when this group stays here."

This concerns me.  I don't necessarily have a close affiliation with this particular Christian group or denomination or anything.  It would be easy to bash them and say that they have strayed from the gospel and if only they were on MY team than maybe the world would repent and everything would be made right.  But that simply isn't true.  My team has lots of sinners on it.  Actually, all of them are sinners.  On every team.  Except for that one star player who is on every Christian team.  He bats cleanup and makes every pitch a strike.  The lefty from Nazareth.  Perfection.

So here's the simple plea: How about all of us Christians strive to be the kind of people that a hotel staff would enjoy to have stay at their hotel.  The rest of the hotel staff knows that my other part-time job is at a church.  And they know that the particular group that stayed and made problems was from a bunch of churches.  And they aren't impressed.

Yet.

There's still time.  Jesus, You are the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5).  Come do your "redeeming" thing.  Right now we still look like dirty empty pop cans, so could you turn us into shiny nickels once more?