Letters to the editor

How would Jesus treat retail, service workers?
I work part time as the Austin District program director and part time at Cokesbury Bookstore. That puts me in a unique position of knowing clergy and laity in two settings.
One thing that has become apparent to me in my three-and-one-half years at Cokesbury is how United Methodists represent themselves in this retail setting. And, unfortunately, it is not always in a positive light.
For anyone who has worked retail, you know firsthand how difficult this work is—and for not a lot of pay.
At the annual conference session in Corpus Christi, the work of Cokesbury becomes even more difficult because of the large number of people attending and the limited Cokesbury staff working.
People are short with the staff. They are demanding. They get upset when an esoteric book they have written is not at the tables. They get upset when the lines are too long.
When Cokesbury is closed, people will come in anyway to browse. People want to take advantage of discount coupons and try to use two coupons when the intent is for only one to be used per customer.
The staff doesn’t get regular breaks during the day in Corpus Christi and are sometimes lucky to even have the time to go to the restroom. We are standing on our feet on the concrete floor for hours at a time. And, throughout this event, we try to maintain a positive attitude and continue to treat the customers with respect.
Many of us have worn the “WWJD” bracelets. My challenge for you at annual conference (and back home) is to think about What Would Jesus Do in the treatment of the retail staff not only at Cokesbury but also the wait staff at the local restaurants and housekeeping at the hotels.
Beth Seward
Austin

Why don’t our preachers talk about sin anymore?
Can we manage our mission if we have lost the marrow of our message? 
Why are we slow, when thinking of church decline, to point to the sad state of Methodist preaching?
I retired from the ministry 11 years ago. I have listened to sermons from Methodist pulpits almost every Sunday since that day. Not once during those years have I heard a sermon that would convict anyone of sin.
The person who does not own and feel the depth of his/her sin has no grasp of his/her great need for God’s mercy. Not knowing the greatness of the mercy they need, they have little reason to seek it.
Does our message lose its marrow when it leads people to vastly underestimate their need for mercy and pardon? Then how slight will be our gratitude!
Our sermons seem designed to comfort, encourage, affirm and soothe. Does that not leave our people and those who visit our worship with a “take or leave as you are disposed” attitude? 
Where in our preaching is the urgency that would be there if our preachers did indeed believe that great issues are at stake, issues relevant to eternity itself? After the extraordinary revival of Wesleyan scholarship in the last century, not to mention the depth of insight that neo-reformation theology might have given us, we are preaching as though these resources are not ours. 
If your God is a wimp, your preaching will be limp.
Lon A. Speer
Missouri City