A barber in Australia heard the late Dr. R.A. Torrey preach a powerful sermon one night on witnessing for Christ. The barber was so deeply convicted by the sermon that he hardly slept a wink that night. In the morning, he went to his shop with a determination to witness to the first customer who came in. However, the barber was hardly the soul of discretion. His first customer got in the chair and the barber lathered the man’s face and neck — all the while murmuring, “I’ve got to do it! I’ve got to do it!” The customer noticed how nervous the barber was. Finally, with one swift move of determination to talk to the man about his soul, the barber started to shave the customer. And with the razor held over the man, the barber said, “Are you prepared to DIE?” Terrified, the poor man ran out into the street with the apron flowing in the wind, and lather all over his face!
At a large party in New York, Mrs. Joseph Schildkraut said good-bye to the British consul, then shook many other hands, and finally found herself shaking the British consul’s hand again. “But you’ve already said good-bye to me once,” he chided. “Oh yes, Mr. Campbell,” she replied archly, “but it’s always a pleasure to say good-bye to you!”
Tact! Webster defines it as a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or to avoid offense. Solomon adds: “How wonderful it is to be able to say the right thing at the right time!” (Proverbs 15:23/Living Bible). As in other areas, Jesus sets the example for us. When He sat on Jacob’s well and was approached by a sinful woman of Samaria, Jesus could have said, “You adultress!” Instead He tactfully engaged her in conversation and thus exposed her life of sin. The woman’s thirst for the “living water” which Jesus referred to, became so intense that she left her waterpot and hurried back home with the cry, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did! Is not this the Christ!”
Christians ought to be the most tactful of people, yet such is not always the case. Diplomacy doesn’t come naturally, but must be developed. May each of us be challenged to learn to say the right thing at the right time!
