Recent encounters with my cable company, my power company, and a couple other places that provide me service had me wondering if customer service was in fact dead, a thing of the past. And then, I was pleasantly brought back to reality by Larry.

I am not changing his name. The REAL person I am talking about is Larry. He is the service manager at the car dealership that services my car. In the world of clichés in which we live, I’ll avoid saying he is a “lunch pail” kind of guy, even though if EVER there has been someone who is, it is Larry. Never sick, never late, always right where he is supposed to be, when he is supposed to be, doing what he is supposed to be doing. And get this . . . he is usually smiling. I say “usually” only because I did see him looking a little perplexed once. It was my own stupidity that had him doing so and even that lead him to laugh just a few minutes later. You almost get the feeling he feels blessed to have a job, be able to work, but that is another topic for another day. Larry is prompt in his work, always delivering ahead of the time he promises. He is accurate in his work, having twice now fixed another place’s mistake from when I was traveling and had to use another dealership. Larry is GREAT.

But beyond that, he is a bunch of other things and it is these which have me thinking. He is respectful. He values my time, or at least makes me feel like he does. He is caring. On two occasions he has asked me to “leave my car with him” an extra day just so he can “make sure it is fixed.” He is considerate. He calls me before he does even the most minor thing that we haven’t discussed. I could go on and on. Probably should. But let me jump to one more thing Larry is before making my point. Larry is always busy, but never seems rushed. I asked him about that once, and he said he found that by calling ahead, being diligent, and the like he actually SAVED time.

I really like Larry. We’ve developed a good working relationship, even if we only see each other every three thousand miles. I like all the things I see in Larry. He could service my car, even make me happy with said service and not go nearly as far as he does.

I think that one of the most disappointing things in the world HAS to be when Christians don’t display some of the characteristics that make Larry so special. Shouldn’t we Christians be respectful? Shouldn’t we be considerate, caring? Even in the day to day interactions of our lives? Shouldn’t every person who comes into contact with us walk away wondering why we treated them so well?

I haven’t asked Larry, at least not in any point blank way, about his religious preferences. I feel pretty sure I know what the answers would be, at least in a general way. Larry’s actions and attitude speak louder than any words he would use.

Besides, when I interact with him myself, or see him interact with others, I want Larry to be a Baptist. He’d give us a good name.