Another Gray Area in Everyday Living

Being a Christian or a person of faith has its share of challenges. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about being thrown to the lions, stoned to death, or otherwise tortured, but I do have a lot of gray areas when it comes to my daily actions involving others.

Today, I'm thinking about a simple annoyance and not something earth-shattering, but my actions, even in the simplest matters, should reflect who I am. That's the dilemma, and I'm talking about telemarketers and solicitors.

Have you ever felt inundated by phone calls, especially ones that you know are solicitations and robo calls? I certainly have, and I vacillate between answering the phone and putting it down on the end table so the caller just hears dead air, or leaving a message on my machine about being on the no call list (doesn't apply to charities or political entities), or just picking up the phone and being frank.

Being frank seems like it might be the best, but it's also the hardest, I think. That's especially true if it's a charity solicitation. It's difficult to say no if the caller is soliciting for a worthy cause, even though some may not be. I feel sorry for some of the telemarketers because you know they probably receive a lot of abuse.

But...we all have our limits, even if we practice generosity. I believe God expects us to share, but at some point, we have to decide which charities are most important. I donate to many including my church, and I'm not willing to exchange one of those I've supported for many years for another (unless God makes it clear to me that I need to do that).

So, I guess the next time my phone rings with one of those caller IDs that actually indicates the name of the charity, I need to be frank. It's not right to let them continue making useless calls.

On the other hand, for those IDs that say "unassigned" or give a city and state, I really haven't decided what to do. If it's definitely a scam (like I've won a prize for a contest I didn't enter, or an offer to lower my credit card interest on an undesignated card), I don't mind just letting the caller dangle a little bit. That's a very bad way to make a living by preying on others so maybe I can delay that a little for the next person they try to call.

If anyone has better suggestions, I'm open to hearing them. Consumer Reports suggests the following: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/07/how-to-stop-unwanted-robocalls/index.htm. Then maybe I'll just try a little experiment - I'll answer the next ten calls and then decide how to handle them individually. Wish me luck!