A funny thing happened at church today. At the end of the invitation song a black man stood up in his pew. He started going on and on about how his family had spend $400 on car repairs while attending a wedding in Memphis. They were on their way back to North Carolina. Somehow he was getting around to asking us for money. I didn’t really listen to much of what he said. Mostly I had my head buried in my hands wishing he would stop. It was an alkward situation. And I hate alkward situations.
Today’s sermon was “The Second Greatest Command,” and it was most appropriate to give him money. However the conservative in me says that this guy it taking us for a scam. He arrived late in the sermon (as if he had already been to another church asking for money to get back home).
At worst, he scammed individual members out of several hundred dollars. At best he left with a good feeling about the church and Christians in general. You never could completely verify this guy’s story. I wish it had been in a different context.