Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Chips on the table, not on your shoulder

We asked for your thoughts about the woman who refused to give a chip count, when a player across the table asked for one. She claimed merely displaying the chips for him to count was a "courtesy."

Maybe so, but it struck us as a very limited form of "courtesy." Perhaps the minimum daily requirement -- based on competitiveness, mixed with a dose of legalism.

We happened to do a Bible study on love after we posted our question, and were reminded of this: "Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:10) The New American Standard Bible says, "Give preference to one another with honor."

Consider also I Peter 4:9. "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."

To us, this means being willing to give someone what they ask -- within reason, of course. Counting your chips for someone else seems reasonable to us.

(In fact, we've never followed the Kenny Rogers musical advice: "You never count your money when you're sitting at the table.")

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