Honesty

 One thing I have learned working this job is that there are some people who have no qualms at all about lying. Customers lie: "Tip in cash."  DoorDash support agents lie: "I can not process any extra payment for this order." Dasher's lie: "This number is no longer connected once delivery is complete. Please call DoorDash with any problems with the order."  

One that can cause a lot of problems is when merchants lie.  And that happens fairly often. A merchant will say, "This order will take about ten more minutes."  Ten seems to be the standard time.  Then, twenty minutes later, you're still standing there waiting on it.  It can cause one to be quite annoyed.

What makes it even worse is, things would be so much better if they just told the truth.  It may sound awful to say, "It's going to be a half hour before we get this order out," but if they just were honest about it, the Dasher would unassign it.  This would be to everyone's benefit ... the Dasher is happy because he can move on to another order. The merchant now has the time to do the order well without a really annoyed Dasher standing around waiting. Another Dasher will be happy to get the order, and when they get there it will be much closer to being finished.   The customer may not be so happy about having to wait so long, but they are going to have to wait that long no matter who delivers the food. 

I had one place to deliver from, and it was my first place there.  This was pre-pandemic and the place was hopping!  It was a new place, and there was a party atmosphere. I came through the back door to get the delivery order.  A server told me it would be about 15 minutes.  Well ......  the next day, I had another order there, same server tells me 15 minutes.  I stopped her. "Yesterday you told me it was a 15 minute wait, and I didn't get out of here until 40.  SO, today do you really mean 15 minutes, or is it more like 40?" 

She blushed, and with a small guilty grin she said, "Welllll .... maybe more like 25....."   I thanked her and unassigned myself from the order.  No hard feelings at all, things happen. But be honest about it, don't lie! 

In Leviticus 19, when God is telling the people (through Moses) how to be holy, he says, "You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another." One of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not bear false witness." In Revelation 21, lying is equal with murder, stealing, and idolatry! All through the Bible the gravity of lying is brought to mind again and again - probably because then it was just as big a problem and just as widespread as it is now. May we all resolve to be better people, and put lying far behind us.  

Not Quite There...

One thing that is invaluable in this job is a GPS. Now, I am old enough that I have done a delivery job before when we did not have GPS - pizza delivery, when I was in college. However, with that we always had a static starting point (the shop), and a big map on the wall to refer to before we left the shop - two things that are not part of the job today.  We also had a smaller delivery area.

The only thing with the GPS is that it is not always precise on the specific address.  Hence, there are times when it has:

     * Taken me a half mile out of the way to make a U-turn that wasn't necessary anyway.
     * Taken me down an alley rather than the road I needed.
     * Not recognized new roads.
     * A few times,  it was at completely the wrong place.

Other drawbacks are that it does not recognize that sometimes a different route may be much faster because of traffic or construction or a car accident.

But by far what happens the most often is that it says, "You have arrived!" and you're actually a few houses away. You have to drive a couple hundred yards yet before you find the right house. If you were entirely dependent upon the GPS to get to the right house, you might be in trouble.

We understand that newer technology is not always perfect and can sometimes cause a little confusion.  But what about when people do the same thing? Should we be as understanding if a doctor were to give the wrong dosage of medication? Or a nurse misread our medical data? What if the paramedics were called, and they went to the wrong house?  Or even in my case - what if I did not correct the technological error and delivered the food to the wrong house every time?

And most importantly ... what about our religious leaders? Shall we entrust our souls' destinies to a teaching that is "not quite there"? Well, if you've ever been told that you are saved by grace ... and that means you don't have to do anything at all, you're not quite there.  If you've been told all you have to do is believe, you're not quite there.  If you've been led in a "Sinner's Prayer" and believe that makes you saved ... you're not quite there. Many of today's religious leaders are like that GPS ... they lead you most of the way there ... but then let you go a few doors short.

Fortunately, you have a road map. Always be wary of a preacher who tells you, "The Bible says...." and then doesn't tell you where the Bible says whatever it is he's put forth. So let's look at two examples.  The very first Christians, on the day of Pentecost sometime around A.D. 30, and Saul of Tarsus (later better known as Paul the Apostle) several years later.

In Acts 2, we find that the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost - 1 week after Jesus ascended - and they began to speak in tongues.  This was a wonder (of course) to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem for the Holy Day. Peter stood up among them and gave the "first gospel sermon", as it was, explaining what was happening, who Jesus was, and how all were guilty of killing the Messiah - but that he had been raised from the dead. The people, it tells us in verse 37, were "pricked in the heart" ... they were emotionally affected by this word, AND that moved them to action, for we are told they "cried out, 'Men and Brethren, what should we do?'" 

In verse 38, Peter says what we in the New Testament church love to quote so often, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins."  Now, God has made that very simple, very concise. Repent - turn around from a sinful lifestyle and do what is right ... and be baptized - immersed in water as a symbol of Christ's blood that will wash away sins. We don't DESERVE or EARN salvation because we did this .... but we are told to do it.

With Saul's conversion, we go to him giving testimony about it in court, before Festus and Agrippa, recorded in Acts 20. Specifically, he was traveling  to Damascus to round up Christians and bring them "to justice", in his mind. On the way there, a light shone around him and a voice - the voice of Jesus - spoke to him, asking why he was persecuting Him. Paul called him Lord - that becomes important in a moment.  He is told where to go, and a man God has sent will meet him and instruct him further, and until then, he is blind. Ananias is sent by God ...  now I want you to notice that at this point, Paul has repented, Paul believes, but Ananias says to him in verse 16, "And now, why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord!"  Paul, though believing and repenting, was still in his sins! He was not quite there.

If you're not quite there - it's just a few steps more. Why not complete that now?

Instructions (not) Included

I read the order off the screen of my phone word for word for the girl behind the counter.

"Two shakes, and two sundaes ... oh, and let's see - there's a note here that says, 'Make sure to put napkins in the cups so nothing gets in them'."

I stopped, confused, and read the line several times again to myself.  Yes, that was what it said.  But what did it MEAN? I looked up at the food service worker.  "Soooo .... like, you want me to put napkins in the cups and then pour the shake over them.....??"

As tempted as I was to default back to my usual, "I'm just the deliverer!" I knew it wouldn't work this time. This time I was also the person receiving instructions and making the entire order. Which was why I was getting paid more.

"Um ..... you know what?  I have no idea what this customer is saying here.  Just forget the napkins thing." It must have been okay, because this customer seemed happy with his delivery. I thought it was odd - he lives a couple blocks away.  I would just walk. It would be faster and cheaper. But, it gives me a job, so...

Sometimes, I feel the same way with God's Word.  "I'm just the deliverer!"  And I am - but as with the food delivery job, I have to get it right. With my food delivery, if I get it wrong, the customer will be upset, I'll lose my tip, and with the current situation being that there are companies offering competition to us, we could lose that customer altogether.  But if I get God's Word delivery wrong, the stakes are so much higher!

James 3:1 (ESV) "Not many of you should become teachers ["deliverers"?], for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." One who is a teacher is always held to a higher standard. While I may not be the one who made God's laws, and am only the one "delivering" the word to others, I need to be constantly aware of the importance of getting it right, especially when souls are at stake.

Introduction

From the title, you might think this blog would be about sermon delivery or some such thing. If you assumed that, you would be incorrect. I suggest if you spend some time reading, you will get enjoyment and knowledge from what I write here.

My name is Vincent Eagan. I am a Christian preacher and have been thus for over 20 years. My lifestyle and way of doing things has led to me having the opportunity to guest speak in over 100 churches across 30 states, do foreign mission work in Lima, Peru, and be the local preacher for congregations in 6 states. It has also however led to me seeing more than my fair share of unusual circumstances - and it has been the case that I have, at times, had to take up secular work to support myself.

This leads to the subject of this blog.  Most recently I landed in a contracting position I rather enjoy. I contract with a company called "Doordash", which will allow a person, through an app, to choose food from a wide variety of different merchants. The order is then sent to a Dasher - that's me - who will pick it up and deliver it to the customer. All those involved benefit from such an arrangement ... the customer gets food delivered from virtually anywhere in the city, the merchant gets an order they would not have had if they have no delivery service, and the business and Dasher earn a fee.

It works well for me because I have always enjoyed driving, I have complete control over my schedule (allowing me to travel for preaching engagements), and I don't have anyone watching me work over my shoulder - I never have worked well in that position.

From the beginning I have had interesting adventures. Someone once told me she loved when I came back from traveling because adventures always happened to me that didn't happen to other folks.  Frankly, I believe adventure can happen to anyone - it's just in how you perceive and tell about what happened, and whether you pick up on opportunities that become known.

Many of my adventures - an addition to being entertaining - have spiritual application. That is what you will read about here.