Excellent Examples of Good Christian People

A few years ago, a friend of mine recommended a garage to me. Now, keep in mind, I’m a big, strapping, manly guy who knows absolutely diddly-squat about cars. I’ve been ripped off left and right by car mechanics who’ve seen me coming, and rubbed their hands together in glee as I signed over half my worldly posessions just to get my clutch re-somethinged. I dread mechanics almost as much as I dread dentists. All I ever wanted was to just take my car into a shop, tell them what the symptoms are, and then trust them to make a good diagnosis, and fix the problem.

But I kept finding out that the part I’d just shelled out five hundred bucks for was $80 at the local parts store. And that whatever they just charged me a small fortune for didn’t do anything to fix the problems I was having. Etcetera. You get the idea.

And then, I met Mr. R_. He’s a tall man, in his fifties I’d say, who looks more like the veteran cowboy in an old Western than a car mechanic. Sort of a Jack Palance crossed with a Mr. Rogers. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s always friendly. And I’d love to know as much about anything as he does about cars.

But he’s not just a good, possibly even a great mechanic. He’s also the most honest businessman I’ve ever met. He’s had any number of opportunities to take advantage of my ignorance, and more recently, to use my Mom’s ignorance of cars to profit off of her. He’s sent both of us off, at least twice, with a fix that cost a couple of bucks when he could have soaked us for hundreds. I have total confidence in leaving my old junker with him, and telling him to check it out and find anything that might be wrong, or going wrong. I know, for certain, that anything he says needs fixing, does.

Almost every time I’ve done this, the car has come back with a thorough checkout, an oil change, and a bill of less than thirty bucks.

This man never advertizes, he doesn’t have a yellow pages ad even. All of his business is word of mouth. And every time I’ve been in his shop, he has tons of work lined up. He works carefully, quietly, with two assistants who he’s obviously trained to be the same kind of mechanic he is. He never seems hurried, never seems rushed, but when he gives you a time to pick up your car, it’ll be ready by then, for certain.

His office is decorated with promotional items from various parts companies, with a decided lack of swimsuit calendars. The magazines in the waiting room include several Christian publications, and there’s a rack for the local Christian newsletter. There are versions of the Christian fish scattered about the shop and office as well. I’ve never talked with him about his religion, I’d be surprised if we talked much about anything.

Every time I go into his shop, though, and see the patience, the care, the honesty that this man puts into his work, I’m impressed, even awed. He is, to me, an excellent example of someone living up to the very high standards of his beliefs, and being a sterling example to others. He’s the kind of person that I want to be.

I’ve noticed that some of our Christian members here are having a hard time with things, for various reasons. I wanted to make sure that they know that, whatever bad examples some self-proclaimed Christians might set, that we know they’re the exception and not the norm. I want to hold up some examples of the opposite extremes, of people who exemplify the decency inherent in Christianity, so that they know that even among those of us who don’t believe, we do see, and we appreciate, the good they can bring into the world.

Anyone else?

You mean other than Polycarp?

Scotticher

Whenever I think of good Christians, I immediately think of some neighbors back when I was a child. Mr. and Mrs. N (not their real names) had some of the biggest hearts when it came to working with the neighborhood children – even after they had many of their own grown children, and dozens of grandkids, which really amazed me! We met them when they moved into the neighborhood and Mr. N started giving us popsicles when we were out playing on warm summer days.

Over the years, it became so much more than that. They had picnics for the neighborhood kids. They put up with kids knocking on their door at all times who just wanted to sit outside and talk, or get some help in fixing their bicycle. Mrs. N was a wonderful crafter who patiently taught us how to do crafts. Somehow, they put up with me forever trying to get into their collection of almanacs and their organ. One thing I’ll especially remember is how Mr. N volunteered to go to a father-daughter luncheon that I was supposed to attend right after my father died.

If anyone could show me how Christianity was love and how to act that out in one’s life and the lives of others, it was them.

When I lived in Oxford, I had the opportunity to meet many Christians who worked for Oxfam. The following is but one example.

One of my ex-wife’s best friends was a couple named Mary and Alan. Some years before I met her, when she left the hospital after nearly dying from complications from anorexia, Mary and Alan took her in, and she lived at their house for seven months. They never asked her for a penny in rent nor for any help in buying food. Alan was an engineer. He could have worked for a big firm and been a top-class consultant–his knowledge of mech. eng. was that good. Instead, he travelled with Oxfam to Africa and South Asia to work on drinking-water projects. He was working in Rwanda and Burundi only months before the civil war which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives began. He wanted to go back while the war was on, but the UN cancelled Oxfam’s plans. He barely received subsistance wages from Oxfam for this…on more than one occasion, he had to pay for his own airfare.

I never heard anything like a complaint from this couple, ever. Even when their home was vandalized, and the police arrested a suspect, they asked that the charges be dropped.

I know what’s going on with some of the “Christians” on this Board. They’re not Christians to me, and I feel bad that so many are being tainted with their brush.

Mangetout.

Also, my grandparent’s landlord. Recovering alcoholic. Salt of the earth. Give you the shirt of his back, he would. Takes good care of Grandma and Grandpa.

Mr. Rogers. I was among many people utterly surprised to find out he was an ordained minister.

My brother-in-law. But he’d be in equal parts amused, embarrassed and skeptical if you told him so. He’s somebody most people overlook, when they aren’t laughing or sneering. He’s short, round as he is tall, and straight out of Hazard, KY. He’s part Cherokee, one of 12 children, and as strong and basic as the hardscrabble hills he came from. Most of his widely-flung family are hardcore fundamentalists. He grew up dirt poor, bright and hardworking, and his ultimate praise is to call someone “generous”. By dint of loads of mother-wit, back-breaking work and canniness, he worked his way up to earning well into 6 figures. But he lives simply, and happily, and he’s the most genuinely generous person I’ve ever met.

At least twice (that I know of) he’s taken non-family folks in need into his home, for months, until they got back onto their feet, and thought nothing of it. Several times I’ve mentioned friends in hard times–one on this board–and he just said, “Tell them to come here. They can stay as long as they need.” And he meant it. They wouldn’t be guests; they’d be family. Sit yourself down, the coffee’s on, make yourself to home.

When he had his stroke, his eldest brother–the Preacher–showed up for the first time to “visit”. My BIL was shaky and tired easily, but his brother wouldn’t leave, yammering away about fundamentalist stuff. When he finally left, my BIL explained: his brother wasn’t paying a get-well visit, he wanted to “save” my BIL’ soul barely before death. My sister and I were furious and appalled. My BIL just laughed. His brother–who hadn’t bothered with him for a least a decade–“meant well and was trying his best by his own lights.” This from a strong, providing man who’d just lost crucial muscular functions to a stroke and wasn’t sure any of them could be regained. He was seriously ill, scared shitless–and still charitable.

THAT, folks, was grit, grace and truly Christ-like behavior. Some part of me still wants to believe in the essence of the Jesus behind the ballyhoo and hoopla. When the real Man walked, before He got codified, footnoted and sealed in vellum, I suspect he could have stopped by my BIL’s place and felt right at home.

Veb

Many, many people. But you know, the thing about your mechanic is, he doesn’t need or want to be told that he’s a shining example of a Christian. You see, if people crave that kind of attention then they are already getting their reward, while those like your mechanic know that their reward is not of this earth and praise and recognition for his faith and way of life from other people is not necessary. He knows where his reward is.
My mother, bless her soul, was my hero. I try to model my life as she lived hers.

Three Cheers for ‘Mohammed’

What an uplifting thread.

Well my husband and I are trying to be like you describe and raise our boys the same way. I gotta admit that we don’t come close to the people talked about here, though, but the Lord is still working on us. My husband does better than me and he owns and operated a heating and air-conditioning company. He is a lot like the mechanic described in the opening thread. Always looking for opportunities to do a good turn. While he advertises, his best advertisement is word of mouth and he gets plenty. I can’t tell you how many times he’s been paid with a jar of pickles or a batch of cookies that some older lady had made. While we are very active in our church of a denomination that has unfortunately has been known for their past position “if you are not one of us then you are going to hell”, my husband does work for many churches and is well respected as he respects their faith. Like he says, “We’re all headed to the same place just some of us are going by train and some of us are going by boat.”

My husband’s brother is also a Christian businessman who owns and operates a mechanic shop. I remember when I met these brothers I was amazed that men like this existed. That hadn’t been my experience with men. I’m still surprised that my husband married me and we have had an amazing 9 year relationship that wil last much longer, Lord willing.

I know other men and women who are walking the walk and I truly see Christ in them. I had some in my life as a child that made a hard childhood just that much more bearable. Of course there are the hypocrites in church and the holier-than-thou’s but you’re always going to have them. Hey, life is a tough journey for everyone and it’s best to help whoever you can along the way and I truly believe that when Christ comes again to take the saints home he will pluck people out of the pews of several different churches leaving the people sitting next to them completely confused and he will take some who never went to a church building but by their life they were members of the body of Christ and thus were part of the church. I just pray that one day someone will talk about the Christ-like influence I had on their life. And I pray that my boys will grow up to be Christ-like.

Oh and yes, I am absolutley at a loss for words when it comes to the integrity, selflessness and honor of “Mohammed”. May God hold him and his family in the palm of His hand and bless them tremendously.

I don’t know their names but let me tell you the story.

Last summer, I was living in So. Austin, waiting to move to So. Calif for grad school. I was riding the bus home. A humonguous thunderstorm was bearing down from the north. I hoped I could get to my stop and walk the half mile or so to the place I was staying without getting too wet.

No such luck. By the time I was at the stop, it was coming down in buckets. I stepped off the bus and was immediately drenched. :frowning:

As I’m standing under a tree, waiting for traffic to break so I can dash across the street and start home a car pulls out from the parking lot of the church. The sliding door on the side opens and a friendly voice asks, “Get in, we’ll take you home.” Not, where are you going? Not, how far do you live? Simply, get in and we’ll take you home. These two fine gentlemen were just getting out of services and saw me standing there, soaked to the bone.

It’s just a 5 min. drive from the MCC lot to the place I was staying, as opposed to the 10 to 15 min. walk I’d normally make.

The two handsome gentlemen chatted me up and I thanked them profusely for their help. I told 'em they were two of the most Christ-like Christians I’d ever encountered. And they were. :slight_smile:

It’s interesting to me – but not surprising – that the qualities that exemplify a good Christian also apply to other religious faiths.

The example of Christian practice that I think of most often was one of the hostages imprisoned in Iran for 444 days a couple of decades ago. One, whose name was Terry, was asked if he could forgive those who kidnapped and imprisoned him. His response was this: “I am a Christian. Forgiveness is required of me.”

His example has made a great difference in my own life. When I am angry, resentful, vengeful – I hear those words and know what I have to do.

Caoimhe Butterly.

The bishop, Monsieur Bienvenu, in Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables.

Archbishop Oscar Romero-one of my heroes.

Padre Pio, beautified in 1999. Personally, I think he should have been a saint. He was at least one of the most devout Christians I have read of, and a family favorite.

For al of the ethical battles a president must face in getting elected, at least one, Jimmy Carter, exemplified a person who subscribed to and exhibited Christian principles. He still does. I doubt that there will be another president who could. Again, due to the inherent problems of the politics which go along with the office.

He was canonized - last year, or perhaps in 2001 (I don’t rememnber right now).
As for me, I’d have to say that mine would be my late maternal grandmother. She was a devout Catholic, no doubt, but beyond that, she would do anything for anyone. Up until the day she died, literally (it was very sudden and unexpected, much like her), she would give anyone a ride who needed it or set out to make people comfortable.

She became a nurse after her husband died, while at least 2 of her 6 kids were still in high school. I always remember her as retired though. She just was, in everything she did, a true Christian.