All Roads Lead To Heaven, If You Let Them.

It says clearly in Matthew 17:9-13 that John the Baptist was in fact the reincarnation of Elijah. However many people over look this fact for one reason or another. But does the disregard or misinterpretation of this scripture passage mean these people who don't want to see the writing on the wall are less of a Christian than the next man or otherwise? No, it does not! For theology is none other than Man's understanding of God and it has nothing to do with our salvation. Still, I have a friend who would never say the a Mormon is not a Christan to my face, however, I have read his comments on a blog run by Catholic Answers. He is of the opinion that if you are not Catholic you are going to Hell and any discussion to the contrary is met with his putting up massive walls of emotionally motivated epithets.

As a result we stopped talking about any religion in each others presents and as time has passed the devision between my friend and I has gotten to the point that we really don't talk at all. But then one day I saw that he had a flat tire several blocks away from his house. I was walking home and saw that he needed help changing his tire. It was raining, windy and miserable, when I stopped to help my friend with his tire. I should also mention that before his flat tire, it had been months since the two of us said anything civil to each other.

As the two of us worked together to get the tire off, I realized that these events are how God brings people together. It is man's pride that causes devision in Christ's church. There in lies, the truth behind why we have so many denominations of one body of believers. As we finished up, my friend asked me what it was that caused us to stop talking. I told him, “RELIGION.” He said, “Jesus set out to start one church.” I reminded him that, “part of the reason that Christ was killed was do to man's inability to admit that we are wrong.” Saint Augustine is reported to have said, “all roads on the mountain will get you to the top.” To put the statement back into the correct context, the Catholic Saint was reminding us that the Lord's church was meant to be all inclusive.

Every one is welcome to come to sit at the table of my Lord. Be you Jew or Gentile, if you have come to find Christ you will find him at the end of your journey. For “when every Three or more are gathered in my name, I am with them” (Mat, 18:20). My friend and I both realized the arrogance in thinking there can only be one door that leads to our salvation. For, “My Father's house has many rooms” (John, 14:2), and assuming that Jesus' distribution had old world architecture in mind, each room has both a window and and exit door to the outside. Therefore it could be argued that as long as you are honestly seeking Jesus, your path will lead to one of the doors to the kingdom of heaven. And remember that once you are past the fortress guard, you can make your way to the thrown. So is it salvation or pride that we are fighting over?

In my professional life I have run in to similar arguments. More times than not, it was my pride that made things difficult for me. May be I felt taken advantage of do to my fear of not being able to find work. But in the workplace I need to be confident in my faith as well as in my self. I need to put my pride a side and learn from those around me. Vector's mission statement is to “do right by people.” However it is a profit based company, meaning they exist to make money. Therefore I must also assume that everything they do is motivated by money. It is at this juncture that I find a moral conflict in the company. Are we doing right by people by selling them things they need or are we pushing the envelope in to greed by pushing for a bigger sale? God has dominion over my life and how I do business. Therefore the needs of the costumer who was made in the image of God must come before the bottom line.

My boss does not like that I will only sell what the costumer wants or needs. On the other hand, I am building relationships and have already had several repeat costumers. Some times it is not better to get the bigger commission if you can't establish the customer's trust by showing that you are trying to help them rather than your paycheck. We must always remember that we are judged not only by how we believe; but also by how we live our lives. Part for good customer service is putting the needs of the customer before the needs of the company. While money is a big part of why we are in business, if the company is not in it for the customer, they don't need to be in business. So always treat your customer as if he or she was Christ himself. For “what you have done to help the least of my brothers and sisters, you have done unto me”(Matthew 25:45). It look a while for my boss to understand what I am doing, but the increase in repeat sales has gone up 65% since I started.