Confessions of a Suki

dunkin-donuts
“The coffee will be ready in five minutes,” said the young woman behind the counter. I suppose there’s nothing too surprising about a Dunkin Donuts cashier making such a statement. What may surprise you is the fact that I had not ordered anything when she gave me the status of the coffee. From the moment she saw me walk in, she was pretty sure that I would order the “two doughnuts and a coffee” combo.

This kind of thing happens to me all the time at SM Manila (the mall located close to my apartment) and other places. I still remember a humorous question asked by one of my volunteer missionaries last year: “Do people always know what you want before you say anything?” This particular question came when I walked into a campus administration office and they automatically led me to the person I needed to talk with. I guess it did seem that people often knew what (or who) I wanted as soon as I entered the room.

This would be a good time to introduce my foreign readers to a new Tagalog word: suki. This word means “loyal customer,” which is exactly what I’ve become at many places here. I guess being a foreigner makes it that much easier for folks to remember me and my preferences. Perhaps I also get extra “suki points” for making small talk with the cashiers and servers.

Being a suki does have advantages that I’ve exploited from time to time. A few weeks ago I kept running into long lines at places where I regularly order food. Each time my order went ahead of some of the other customers–I assume they had not yet reached suki status. No one complained as far as I know–maybe the Filipinos intuitively knew what was going on.

Ezekiel: Called to “Failure”


I’ve spent the past few weeks reading through the book of Ezekiel. I would like for us to think about what God told him at the beginning of his ministry:

“Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.”
-Ezekiel 2:3-5

From the beginning, God plainly tells Ezekiel that he’s going to have a tough job. The people will not listen. They are stubborn and rebellious. They will try to intimidate him. Ezekiel will not win any popularity contest. His ministry would be considered a failure by human standards. We celebrate the prophets, but we tend to forget that they were often despised by their own people.

Ezekiel’s experience helps me to rethink my ideas of “success” and “failure.”

I’ve experienced plenty of “failures” in my ministry. There have been several times that I’ve approached a group of students and been completely rejected or ignored (usually not in a rude manner, but their disinterest was clear). I couldn’t count the number of Bible study groups that have disappeared after one or two lessons. I’ve listened to some of my own recorded sermons and cringed at my poor choice of words. There have been days where I wondered if I was making any impact at all.

Fortunately, God has placed me in a ministry where I also get to experience “success”: sharing with hundreds of students at a seminar, seeing teenagers commit their lives to Jesus, and watching some turn into mature disciples. Ezekiel did not enjoy these psychological perks in his ministry.

There’s a reason why I’ve put “success” and “failure” in quotes. Ezekiel’s calling reminds me that God doesn’t keep score the same way I tend to. God does not ask me to be “successful”—He simply calls me to be faithful and obedient. His glory is the issue, not the results that I may or may not see.

God promises two things to Ezekiel. First, He promises that He will be glorified through Ezekiel’s ministry. “They will know they have had a prophet among them,” God said (vs. 5). Second, God promises His strength. He states, in fact, that He will make Ezekiel just as determined as his hard-headed audience (Ezekiel 3:8-9).

These same promises apply to us here and now. God never promised that we will always win. He has promised that He will be glorified whenever we obey. He has also promised to strengthen us so that we can do His will.

God delights in our obedience, regardless of the outcome. Let us never forget this.

Heavenly father, I pray for all of those faithful servants who feel like failures. Remind them that you delight in their obedience, just like a mother delights in her child’s first feeble steps.