Anybody who lives in a third world nation knows the struggle of having to lower your standards when it comes to eating at local restaurants, especially what would be the equivalent in North America of a mom-and-pop restaurant.
You know how in our culture, waiters are paid next to nothing and they live on tips, and as a result, the whole system has this built-in process that motivates them to do a good job serving you so they will receive a generous tip? Never mind you should already be tipping or not bother going to a restaurant.
Here in Peru where I reside, unless you you’re going to some high end touristy area of town, the waiters and waitresses don’t expect you tip.
It’s a lot different of an experience than when you’re in North America or maybe even Europe; if we feel that we’ve received lousy customer service, we just blast it on Facebook, tweet about it or leave a negative review on Yelp, whether we’re the ones in the wrong or not.
And it can result in a public relations disaster for the restaurant if it goes viral.
Nothing on the Menu Available
Years ago I went to Tarma, which is about 5 hours away from Lima by bus into the mountains. My friends Martin and Denise had invited me to come do some preaching in their mission there for the weekend, and they drove me and an American intern back to Lima the following Monday.
We parked and went to a street in downtown Lima on a main block where there’s no shortage of restaurants, traffic and every other thing you expect to encounter in the center of a big metropolis. We picked a side street not far from where we had parked, sat down, and were immediately presented a menu when the waiter disappeared for a few moments to allow us time to make our selections.
I don’t remember what kind of restaurant this was or what they specialized in, but I recall we were all scanning the specials. Let’s just arbitrarily say there were ten items on this part of the menu and eventually each of us decided to order something from it.
When the waiter came back to take our orders, we proceeded to indicate what we wanted, and one by one he would tell us, “I’m sorry, but we’re out of that”, or “we don’t have that today”.
This happened with maybe six or seven of the items that we went through. All but one of us needed to take another moment to pick something else as nothing we had whet our appetites for was going to be available.
We waved him back over and told our waiter what we would have. We continued enjoying ourselves when a little while passed and the waiter came up to Denise and started to apologize to her, proceeding to tell her that what she had ordered also wasn’t available. He wanted to know if she would like to, yet again, order something else.
We had been there maybe half an hour or probably closer to 45 minutes by this point, now basically being told after all the time we had waited that some of our orders wouldn’t be ready.
The reason this particular experience sticks out in my mind is because I remember the waiter didn’t even seem embarrassed or concerned that we thought this was unacceptable, even laughable, that a restaurant would let its patrons sit for over half an hour by this point before telling them that what they were hoping for, waiting for and expecting… wasn’t available.
Being the good, patient Christians that we try to be, we indicated we would pay for our drinks and leave, and if my memory serves me, we went and got fast food or something instead since the hour was getting late and we had not planned on stopping at two places just to get one meal.
The details of this story stick out in my mind, not because this was the only time such an experience happened, far from it. Rather, because our waiter was particularly oblivious to how off putting this was for us and that as a result, we’d never come back to this restaurant again after an experience like that.
We were hungering for something specific and we stopped in this one particular restaurant out of probably 100 in that area of Lima, and they didn’t have what we came for.
We weren’t even being picky or anything, but we went through about six or seven items on the menu out of ten they were promoting and not be able to get ANY of them.
Makes me wonder how such a restaurant stays in business.
The Pizza Restaurant That Never Had any Pizza
My wife and I once discovered an Italian restaurant in a hole in the wall near the park I used to take our oldest daughter to every afternoon when she was still a toddler. They offered pizza, pasta and the Peruvian interpretation of tacos.
The food was very delicious, but also cheap. Then we started noticing something: we would sit there for a few minutes trying to keep our daughter from acting up, and then when we were finally ready to order, we’d give them our request from their menu and be told, “Oh, we don’t have that today”.
It took several visits before I ever got to try their so-called tacos, because on more than one occasion they told me they didn’t have any flour and couldn’t prepare the tortilla wraps they had made for this dish.
On another occasion, we had moved from our apartment into a new one several blocks away and hadn’t plugged our fridge in yet, so we decided on going to this restaurant to get some gourmet pizza only to find, you guessed it, they didn’t have any that day.
The very bright red sign above their entrance that said “pizza” apparently was just there for decoration, because rarely did they have the main dish they claimed to offer.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and if I’d experienced it once, I’ve experienced it dozens of other times.
Eventually we gave up on this particular restaurant because despite the close proximity to our house and their price, they rarely delivered on their “promise” of the particular food their bright sign advertises them as having.
It should be noted that restaurant went out of business months later, and in the years since we’ve seen several different burger-and-fries type of joints come and go in its place.
Do You Have What You Advertise?
If you’re a believer in Christ, you are wall-to-wall Holy Ghost. If you’re a member of his Bride, the Bible says that you can and will do these works.
Which works?
The works Jesus did and even greater.
Mark 16 talks about how these signs shall accompany them that believe; they’ll lay hands on the sick, cast out demons, speak in new tongues, etc…
When people in your life, whether it be your neighbors, coworkers or any kind of acquaintance, need a healing in their body or a loved one they know needs prayer badly and they bring them to your doorstep, do you provide the goods? Or do you say, “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t have any prophetic words to give you at the moment. Have a nice day!”
You cannot give what you don’t have.
Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high, because you can’t give what you don’t have. Jesus said we would do greater works than Him, and that doesn’t come without the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is a baptism in power.
Jesus knew the disciples weren’t going to be able to turn the world upside down without this power. They weren’t going to do it by being able to preach good sermons, tell good stories, and have three points in a poem.
It’s the same with us if we’re going to follow in the Messiah’s footsteps.
Just like these restaurants, we need to have what we advertise. Christians should be equipped to offer the “goods” of the Holy Spirit when others seek healing, deliverance, or a word from God. Just as the disciples received power in the Upper Room, we too, need to be “clothed with power from on high” to truly make a difference.
Just as Jesus instructed his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high, we too need to step out and share the same message. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is essential for a life that transforms the world around us.
Are you seeking the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you believe God wants to use you to heal, deliver, and bring revival? Check out this discussion I had with Larry Sparks years ago if you want to pursue a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit and step out in faith.
