"That old man fell down!"
"He had two brain surgeries!"
"There's blood coming from his nose!"
That's the first three things I heard last night when a commotion broke out at the coffee house I went to in an failed attempt to reduce my stress level. I threw off my headphones and rushed over to the 71-year-old man who was laying face down on the floor with his frantic wife standing above him talking about how he had brain surgeries. The owner of the place was right with me as we went over and was dialing 911 on the phone.
No one was helping the man but his wife...elderly herself and pretty much unable to help him up. She was also more than a little bit worried about her husband.
The place was packed. Almost every table was full of people under the age of this man. They didn't move to help.
When I reached the man he was surrounded by the people at the tables next to him who jumped out of the way when he fell. You could see the blood pooling on the floor beneath his face as he started to get up. I had a man in front of me so I couldn't get to him. I asked him to move and man stayed where he was watching the entire scene. I looked around the restaurant at the various tables and no one was getting up to help. The group of people playing cards had gone back to their game and it hasn't even been a full minute yet. Two groups of people that I'm assuming were doing Bible studies (they had Bibles and other books spread out on their table) just sat and watched.
I had to get napkins to give the man to stop the bleeding.
I had to get bottles of water so he could wash off his face and drink.
The owner kept talking to the man and the 911 operator. A few of the other staff brought over items to help. Everyone else...just sat there.
The man started to stand up and the owner asked me to help him up and make sure he didn't fall again. I went to move past the man who had been standing in front of me and he literally moved in front of me and said "no." He blocked me again when I tried to go around his other side. He just stood there watching while keeping me from getting to the older man who finally stood up. When he did, the man who blocked me grabbed a chair and slid it behind the elderly man. He then turned to the young woman next to him and said "I'm just glad I could help" and walked away.
Now, I'm not writing this to brag that I jumped in...I'm writing this because I'm still troubled by the fact people just sat there and one man actually stood in the way of my helping the man stand up apparently so he could tell his daughter/niece that he was able to help. (The elderly man is OK, by the way. Nasty cut on the nose but it didn't appear to be broken, praise God.) After the elderly man had left the owner was talking to me and I asked who the man was that blocked me from helping and she said she didn't know him. She said he was at the table next to the elderly guy but wasn't with them. I had thought in the back of my head it might have been a relative who was with them and he was going to help him. I never expected he was just waiting to slide a chair so he could say he helped out.
Where were the two tables of Christians studying God's word? Shouldn't they have been the first to jump up and make themselves available for service? In a situation like that you don't have to take charge but you can make yourself available to get napkins or water or help the man up if requested to do so. Standing there watching does nothing to help another person in need...and how much more in need can you get than an elderly man laying face down on the floor bleeding from his nose?
Are we really so afraid of being sued that we just sit there instead of rushing to help?
Do we not have the love of Christ within us to get up and walk over to say "if you need me to grab anything I will"?
What kind of witness is it for Christ to non-believers in that restaurant to see the people of God just sitting there watching an old man try to get to his feet?
A blogger and writer whose work I follow, Matthew Paul Turner, likes to make fun of Jesus pictures like the one I posted in this thread. I almost didn't post it knowing he'll likely mock me for doing so but in light of last night that image is just burning in my brain. Do you think if Jesus walked up on an man who was falling he would catch him and help him? Yes. Would he have gotten up from his double soy chai latte and walked over to help that elderly man last night? I don't doubt that he would. Aren't we supposed to reflect him?
Sorry if this seems like a rant. I guess it IS a rant. I'm honestly still surprised I woke up still frustrated over the lack of action last night by the people with Bibles all over their tables. If we don't move when the opportunity arises to serve others in incredibly simple ways...how can we really say we follow Christ?