How to minister to others

I realized at the Publix today after church how everyday normal people can minister to others, even though they have no formal theological training. Brace yourself because this might be a little shocking and way too direct for some readers. Are you ready? Here goes. Don't be an asshole. Plain and simple. Nothing complicated there, just don't be an asshole. And really this has absolutely nothing to do with going to Publix after church today except one thing. I tried really hard to look the girl at the register in the eye and smile and say thank you when she got done ringing me up. How hard was that? I have actually been on a small personal crusade to just be friendly to the people around me. I try and make it a habit to wave to the police officer that directs traffic at our church after the services get out. I try and cut up and be funny with the nurses that have to draw my blood for the tests I get done. I try to give a thank you wave to the car that lets me into the line of traffic. None of that stuff is hard. None of it takes more than a second or two. None of that stuff costs me a single dime. But I try and put myself in the shoes of those people around me. Especially the people that are in a position of service. Think about all of the folks you encounter everyday in the McDonald's drive thru or the dry cleaners or the Starbucks that are so wrapped up in their own world blabbing on their cell phone and treating the people serving them like they are their personal wait staff who are to be wadded up and thrown away like a dirty Kleenex. Imagine if you were that person trying to wait on those jerks. And not only that jerk but about 8 hours of jerks coming and going taking a break from their busy lives. Now imagine meeting someone during your day that took just a second to smile and say hello and asked you how your day was going. What a breath of fresh air that would be. What a reflection of Jesus that would be. And there you'd be, making a conscious effort not to be an asshole and acting more like a minister. And that would make this world a little better place.