by Doug Nichols
A Chinese pastor friend of mine was in India speaking at a pastors’ conference. A friend took him to a barber shop for a haircut. A normal haircut consisted of a haircut, shave, and sometimes even a head and neck massage.
The barber, who was a heavy set and rough looking Muslim, gave the haircut and then proceeded to give the shave. As he put the razor on the neck of my Chinese friend, he asked, “Where are you from?”
Now this was the year 2005. The USA had invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Muslims around the world hated Americans. So, when the Muslim barber asked my Chinese friend where he was from, he was afraid to say, “The USA” so instead he replied, “I am Chinese!”
The barber responded, “Oh, wonderful, we love the Chinese. Some of my Muslim friends are Chinese!”
My friend later said that even though this was funny, he felt ashamed that he was afraid to tell the whole truth.
Many times, we do not give the whole truth in a situation for fear of our reputation, personal safety, convenience, or comfort.
What would you do in a situation like this?
No comments:
Post a Comment