I went to a friend’s restaurant last night and it was such an incredible evening of eating. My friend is the head chef and since it was a rather slow night, he continually came out to join me and make sure my food was alright. When he asked me what I wanted to order, I told him it was his choice and that I wanted to get a tour of what he was most proud of. While he kept coming back and forth, he wasn’t the only one that caught my attention throughout the meal. Joe was the server, and he was constantly hovering around my table. He just wanted to make sure I was taken care of, and he did a good job.
One time, my spoon slipped out of my hand and less than 10 seconds later, I had a new spoon at my table. After a few more of these small pictures of service, I finally stopped him to ask a few questions. He didn’t speak too much english, but he was more than content just standing there and listening. I tried to ask him a few questions, and while it never turned into a full blown conversation, we were able to put the pieces together. We had a short conversation, and then my friend returned, so Joe got back to work.
I asked my friend a little about Joe and he just laughed. He told me that he was a hard worker and was so focused on serving people that at times he wouldn’t even hear people talking to him or asking him questions. That now made sense. Over the next several minutes, Cris and I talked about Christians and baptism and everything that is Jesus. It turns out that Cris has been raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic (nothing like American Catholicism just as a side note) and he was interested in the teachings of Jesus. He began to ask some incredible questions and our conversation just happened naturally and Cris hung on every answer. Before I finished my chicken, he said he wanted to follow Jesus instead of the rules and rituals he had grown up with.
We walked through what it means to follow Jesus and after he told me he was all in, he had to go back to the kitchen, and I noticed Joe followed him in. When Cris came back several minutes later, I asked if anything interesting happened. He told me that nothing really happened, but that Joe was just asking about what we had been speaking about. “What do you mean nothing happened?” I asked him. “That’s your chance to share what we just talked about. God gave you immediate ministry when you left the table.” I just told Cris that I couldn’t really talk to Joe because he couldn’t fully understand me, but it was his chance. I could see the nerves began to come to the surface.
Over the next several minutes, we talked about the Great Commission and our opportunity to be a part of God’s ministry here on earth. The more we talked, the more I could tell he liked this idea. As I paid my bill and left the restaurant, I told him that he had homework. Joe is already asking for the Word. It’s just a matter of us speaking it. Sometimes God does make it that easy for us and all we need to do is get up from the table. I doubt Cris was expecting this quick of a turn around, but I feel like Joe has been searching for a while, so I’m thankful God would use him so quickly…
