All Things to All Men

I was just listening the "The Story" on NPR which is one of my favorite radio shows. The radio story was about a couple who got a new land line telephone number which they soon discovered had previously been a prayer hotline. They could not convince the callers that this was no longer the prayer line and soon found themselves immersed in the problems and concerns of complete strangers.

It reminded me of an experience I had with my grandma Bill when I went to visit her after I had moved to Colorado. We were visiting when her phone rang which she went to answer. I could not help but eavesdrop as I heard her say, "OK, so that will be two large pepperoni pizzas, now what is your name and address?" She then hung up the phone and walked back over to me and proceeded to pick up the conversation where we had left off.

My curiosity finally got the best of me and I asked her about the call. She then shared that the local Pizza Hut had recently put out a flier to the students on campus and mistakenly listed her home phone number. She told me that she had notified Pizza Hut who had corrected the mistake but not before there had been hundreds, or more, fliers distributed. As the calls had begun to come in she attempted to explain to the callers of the mistake but they seemed resistant to accepting the information. So, she had just given in and started taking their orders. I am sure that as complaints began to arrive about pizzas not being delivered Pizza Hut determined to never make this mistake again.

I will never forget the image of my grandmother taking pizza orders without any hint of a smile or guilt.

I wonder if this is what the apostle Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 9:19-23....

Here I Dwell,
Rick