How Johnny Depp Changed My Life...

Johnny Depp. Everybody loves him. Everybody. Including, perhaps especially, my mother. I swear the woman has a problem. She is always talking about how beautiful he is and how she would leave us for him, etc. etc. So naturally for Christmas, my brother and I decided to get her a copy of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. We tried what we could, but of course we ended up at the only place in the city we knew would have it (and everything else on our list)—Wal-Mart. You know, the more I shop there, the more I want to boycott—but that is another post!

So we went to the back, of course, where the electronics are but we couldn’t find the movie anywhere. I asked the guy behind the counter if they had any copies, and he said no, they were sold out, but I could come back tomorrow. So we got in line to pay for some other things. But I just couldn’t let it go…I just knew that they had to have one copy of that stupid movie somewhere. So I went back to electronics and asked a different cashier whether or not they had the movie. He too said no. Then the man to whom I had spoken earlier jumped in and confirmed, yet again, that there were no more copies. They were sold out.

So I then started walking around. I saw a display case for Talledega Nights, and decided to at least give it a shot. I rounded the corner and there they were: sitting in front of me were about 50 copies of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. I was livid. I got so mad I couldn’t even think straight. I walked up to the counter and harshly (jerkishly) told the cashiers how they should pay more attention to their stuff—and they replied with more harsh words about my tone. I walked away with a feeling both of anger and justification. I knew I was right—and it was both my right and my duty to speak to these “incompetent” employees as I had.

Once I got out to the car it hit me: those cashiers in no way saw Jesus in me. If they were to come to my church on Sunday, I know they would be surprised to see me there. And I began to feel completely ashamed. Not at my frustration, but at the way I handled it. I could have just as easily walked up to them and politely said, “You have a few extra copies in the back. I just thought you might need to know that.” Or even, “Listen, I hate to bother you, but this situation really frustrates me. It is just that I asked you three times if you had this movie, and you had a whole display of them that you didn’t even mention to me.” Either way I didn’t have to act like such a jerk.

Exactly 24 hours before this encounter with the guys at Wal-Mart I was leading a home Bible study. I was talking about Paul’s understanding of New Creation and how it is supposed to change the way we live our lives. I was not changed, though. I was still being led by anger and sarcasm. I was still an Old Creation.

So what is the point of this story? Maybe it is several things. I guess the big one would be that we should treat people—even those with whom we are extremely frustrated—in such a way that if they were to see us in church the next Sunday, they wouldn’t be surprised. We should not let our anger ruin our witness—as I did the other night. It is the way that we treat people that separates us as Christians from the rest of the world. We are to be a different people. A people who dies to self and shows the love of Christ in a world full of ruined witness.