Two black men walk into a coffee shop and sit down at a table, without having ordered anything yet. One of them asks a worker there if he can use the bathroom. The worker says he has to buy something first. The black man refuses to buy anything. The manager then calls the police, saying the men are in her coffee shop, sitting at a table, and they haven’t ordered anything. The two black men get arrested for trespassing. Is this racism, or is this confusion?
What would the Bible tell us? 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 tells us, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you…and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work…” The men walked into a place that is not their own, nor do they work there. The worker, who does work there, says the man must buy something in order to use the bathroom. The Bible tells us to give to the poor and needy, but the men gave no indication of being either, but for the fact that one of them NEEDED to use the bathroom.
Neither of them seeked to buy anything, but they gave no indication of being without means. They were using, and seeked to use, the coffee shop’s facilities without giving anything in return, such as complying with the worker’s request to buy something.
Seeking something for nothing, goes against the Bible’s teachings. Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet… anything that is your neighbor's.” GENESIS 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It seems, then, at first glance, the men were wrong to expect free use of the coffee shop’s facilities.
But before we pass judgement, we should also consider once of Jesus’ parables, that of the good samaritan as told in LUKE 10:25-37: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead… a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion… Then he… brought him to an inn and… he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” Did the innkeeper in the parable tell the man to keep his money? Did the innkeeper tell the man to keep his money and the innkeeper will take care of the stricken man for nothing in return? There is no account of the innkeeper saying that. Likewise, there is no indication that the man said to the innkeeper to take care of the stricken one without receiving any payment in return.
The man was a good samaritan. We don’t know if there is a good samaritan side to the innkeeper, but Jesus does not mention in the parable anything about the innkeeper being condemned for accepting the money, given the circumstances of the stricken man.
As God gave us a free will, we have a choice in what we do that involves others. The Bible only asks of us two things…that we treat others as we would expect to be treated, as written in Matthew 7:12, and we give others equal consideration as written in passages like Proverbs 24:23. In the coffee shop incident, there is no indication that people there who were not black were allowed to stay without buying anything. There is no indication that a man who was not black and asked to use the bathroom without intending to buy anything was granted his request. Until it’s shown otherwise, we would expect the workers to enforce their policy equally to everyone.
So…were the black men wrong for expecting something for nothing? Was the worker wrong for telling the black man he had to buy something to use the bathroom? You be the judge…
What would the Bible tell us? 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 tells us, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you…and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work…” The men walked into a place that is not their own, nor do they work there. The worker, who does work there, says the man must buy something in order to use the bathroom. The Bible tells us to give to the poor and needy, but the men gave no indication of being either, but for the fact that one of them NEEDED to use the bathroom.
Neither of them seeked to buy anything, but they gave no indication of being without means. They were using, and seeked to use, the coffee shop’s facilities without giving anything in return, such as complying with the worker’s request to buy something.
Seeking something for nothing, goes against the Bible’s teachings. Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet… anything that is your neighbor's.” GENESIS 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It seems, then, at first glance, the men were wrong to expect free use of the coffee shop’s facilities.
But before we pass judgement, we should also consider once of Jesus’ parables, that of the good samaritan as told in LUKE 10:25-37: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead… a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion… Then he… brought him to an inn and… he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” Did the innkeeper in the parable tell the man to keep his money? Did the innkeeper tell the man to keep his money and the innkeeper will take care of the stricken man for nothing in return? There is no account of the innkeeper saying that. Likewise, there is no indication that the man said to the innkeeper to take care of the stricken one without receiving any payment in return.
The man was a good samaritan. We don’t know if there is a good samaritan side to the innkeeper, but Jesus does not mention in the parable anything about the innkeeper being condemned for accepting the money, given the circumstances of the stricken man.
As God gave us a free will, we have a choice in what we do that involves others. The Bible only asks of us two things…that we treat others as we would expect to be treated, as written in Matthew 7:12, and we give others equal consideration as written in passages like Proverbs 24:23. In the coffee shop incident, there is no indication that people there who were not black were allowed to stay without buying anything. There is no indication that a man who was not black and asked to use the bathroom without intending to buy anything was granted his request. Until it’s shown otherwise, we would expect the workers to enforce their policy equally to everyone.
So…were the black men wrong for expecting something for nothing? Was the worker wrong for telling the black man he had to buy something to use the bathroom? You be the judge…