It was Thursday, December 24th, just past 1 AM.  On any other Thursday at this time the store would be quiet, at most one or two customers in the place.  But this was different.  On this last day before Christmas there were more like 20 or 30 customers in the store. 

And they had several things in common.  They were tired from their long day, they were harried in trying to finish getting ready for Christmas, and they were not showing much holiday cheer.  Grumbling and complaining was the norm and a few resorted to profanity over the slightest issues.  It is amazing how a season that, to believers and unbelievers alike, is supposed to emphasize peace and joy brings out the worst in so many of us.

While some of the verbal assaults sometimes made me want to fire back some comments of my own, I held my peace.  I’d like to think that my Christian values had something to do with that but to a great extent it was my training in customer service.  You don’t argue with the customer and you try your best to hear his complaint and address it.  You want him or her to feel your empathy and to sense your sincerity in desiring to meet their needs.

Reflecting on this through the night, it hit me.  Good customer service is a lot like grace.  Those in need of grace are our “grace customers.”  In Ephesians 4:29 Paul writes “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to the hearer.”  Two things are clear from this passage.  The goal of avoiding unwholesome words is not for our own spiritual growth (although that is certain to be a byproduct) but to bless the hearer.  Second, this is the clearest expression I know that affirms that we are grace-agents.  Yes, grace comes from God, but we are his agents in dispensing it to those around us.

In good customer service there are some principles.  One is “our goal is not to be right but to make things right.”  If our words are to give grace, they should have the same goal.  We need to ask ourselves what can I say that gives grace to this person?  Another is “understand what the customer thinks is important and address that issue.”  Grace communication too focuses on the important and not the trivial.  A third is “take the time necessary to meet the customer’s need.”  Dispensing grace takes time and effort on our part. 

Businesses may think their success is important but we know what is most important.  Grace customers are in need.  And it is our privilege to serve them.  Who are the “grace customers” in your life?  What are some of the ways you can think of to provide them with much-needed grace?