My friend Steve dubbed these conversations as the “Angie Sandwich.”
When she answered the phone, it sounded as if an angel was saying, “Hello, this is Angie. How are you?”
The next three to five minutes would include words and tones that sounded like they came straight out of a prison movie. I usually assumed the individual on the other end of the line was in tears. It could go from being funny to offensive in an instant.
And just when it got so bad you would get up to leave the room, Angie would wrap up the call with a darling, “Thank you. Have a nice day! Byyyeeeee.”
That is an Angie Sandwich. You get a quarter pound of verbal abuse in between two slices of heavenly courtesy.
I think back on those Angie Sandwiches often. The memories usually come flooding back each time I find myself reading a vicious email. Man, people can be so brave on a keyboard. Sure, they are usually formal and address me as Mr. (or Ms. for those of you that love the fact that I have a girl’s name) Boggs. And then they proceed to act like somebody dropped a house on their sister, tossing out accusations and making threats left and right.
Once they have all of the venting out of their system, they sign the email, “In Christ, Disrespectful Emailer.” (Note: I have never met anyone named Disrespectful Emailer. But if I did, I would probably give them a break since their parents hated them so much)
So…wait. You send a mean, hateful email and then sign of in the name of Christ? Do you really not see the hypocrisy in that? Do you think that makes it okay to say whatever you want? And do you really think that is going to bring people closer to God?
Maybe you have never received an email like this, and I hope you never do. I certainly hope you do not send emails like this.
Whether it is an email, a Facebook post, a Tweet, or any other public display of our opinions, we all need to be careful about how we come across. Regardless of whether or not we put God’s name on it, as Christians we are always representatives of His kingdom.
People are supposed to see Christ when they look at us, and that includes anything we write, type, or say. Just try to keep that in mind the next time you get ready to click send.