Kind Druggists

I recently stopped by Walgreens to pick up a prescription for my son who is battling a poison ivy breakout. He was itching to get some relief. So off to the drug store I went. I’m such a good dad.

I took note of a sign by the counter as I waited in line. It had a few comments about expectations for customers as the pharmacists prepared their drugs. The final line was a note about being kind to the employees. Have we really come to the place in society where we need to be reminded about the need to be kind?

The obvious answer to that is “yes.” We need to be reminded. A lot. Even in the church. I’m always surprised when I post anything about our need to be gentle and loving in Christian ministry that I always receive a fair share of “but don’t you care about truth” or “what about the Puritans” or “what about Jesus’s flipping tables”?

There’s surely room for nuance on all these issues. I can’t answer for all of the Puritans for example. I’d imagine there were some who exemplified Christian humility. With reference to Jesus, he seemed to reserve his anger for legalistic religious leaders who had no love for the people of God. But with the sinners, he shared meals, offered compassion, and extended forgiveness. What does it say about us that we continue to platform and put up with stuff that is the polar opposite of Jesus?

G.K. Chesterton once said, “Bigotry is an incapacity to conceive seriously the alternative to a proposition.” I think that’s a big part of our problem. We don’t want to hear alternative propositions. We don’t really want to hear others. What are we afraid of? What are we guarding? Who are we missing? What’s our problem? Why are we so angry?

Maybe the next time you listen to a podcast or Youtube, you might ask if can at least pass the Walgreens test. Even the druggists seem to find that virtue worth prioritizing. How much more should followers of Jesus?