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One day, after church, my dad went to one of his favorite restaurants. (I know that there's debate among Christians over whether it's appropriate to go to restaurants on Sunday, but that's not part of the story.) When he was waiting in line, the guy in front of him was wearing a suit, making my dad think he had probably just come from church. He was arguing with the restaurant employee. I guess the kid did something wrong. He was brutal to the employee, who was a young girl that looked like she was about to cry.
As the man was berating the girl, my dad wondered what kind of church someone like this would attend. He turned around and my dad saw that he was wearing a nametag that said he was a greeter for a local congregation, of the same denomination of the church that my parents attended.
That story always stuck around for me. Our behavior represents not only ourselves, but our ideals. Although it's absurd to judge an ideology by the bad behavior of an adherent (typically), it's equally absurd to expect the people around us not to do exactly that. If someone cuts me off and makes an obscene gesture, they're not exactly priming the pump for sharing the Gospel.
I have no idea what became of either of the two people in that story, and I also don't know, for that matter, if the rude guy had just had an extraordinarily bad day. (I'd be lying if I said I always had the patience that I wish this man had displayed that day.) Nonetheless, he must have made an impression on that kid, and he certainly made an impression on my dad, who was infuriated that this guy was representing the church.
I have seen people driven away from sound doctrine because of the behavior of those preaching it. I have seen people embrace heretics because they were at least friendly to them.
Conversely, I have seen people come to the Gospel through good, honest, and kind servants of Christ. I want to see more of that.
I certainly don't believe that the man who was cruel to the restaurant employee is responsible for the kid's salvation, because I know that all that the Father gives to Christ will go to Him. However, I also know that we will be held accountable for the way that we treat other people and that ministers of the Gospel are ambassadors of Christ. By all means, call a spade a spade and a nest of vipers a nest of vipers. There are certainly situations, including many today, that call for that, though I think it's best to choose words carefully when doing so. That said, if I saw any of the elders from my church behave the way I see some pastors behave on Twitter, I'd be mortified.