Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.
“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.
Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.
“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'”
“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.'”
Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”
“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.
Someone who without mentioning Jesus, follows what he says. God bless him.
It may sound trite, but this is a true WWJD moment. That is an example of how we can bring the Kingdom to people wherever we are today. How wonderful the world would be with more and more people being Christ-like, as this man is. May God bless him abundantly.
Sounds like a modern version of going the extra mile, which in Jesus’s time and place meant carrying a load 2 miles instead of one for a Roman soldier, agent of the hated occupation and subjugation. How else would one evangelize the enemy, who, being flesh and blood, is not the one against whom we war?
What’s also interesting is that this happened before “doubting Thomas” Sunday. I retold this story to a colleague and stopped right after saying “and he asked him for the knife.” My friend said, “did the kid stab him?” “No.” Yes, it is an unbelievable story. Which is probably what makes it so interesting.
Blessed are those who do not see yet still believe.
This could have come right out of C. S. Lewis’ [i]Mere Christianity[/i]–Book IV, Chapter 4, on “Good Infection”. The premise is that Christian behaviour is infectious, with examples of a sacrificial life drawing others to live the same way.
A wonderful story. Inspiring! I’m glad the story had a happy ending. I suggest a disclaimer like: “Don’t try this unless you have Christ in your heart and angels at your back.”