Making Deals, Making Steals

I love my church. I'm not sure if I've taken the opportunity to express that here yet. For the first time in over a decade I can honestly say I'm a member of a church that I love.

One thing I love about Northstar Church is the opportunity to serve. Week after week, the people of the church are given numerous opportunities to volunteer somewhere. There are so many ministries to plug into, and these give everyone a chance to share God's love in a real way.

Each year, the staff at Northstar hosts a Volunteer Appreciation Banquet. It's the church's way of saying thank you to all the folks that help in various ministries throughout the year. And every year, I'm told, there's a different theme.

Last Friday was my first experience with this annual event. This year's theme was Let's Make a Deal. Everyone was encouraged to dress up in some kind of crazy costume and come out to play the classic game show. I, being the geek that I am, chose to appear as the Green Lantern.

My costume was good enough to get me noticed. In fact, I was one of the contestants chosen for the first game. For the game, there were four players and six prize boxes. Each player would roll a die and they would get the box with the corresponding number. If two people rolled the same number, the second roller could choose to steal the previous roller's unopened box or roll again. Here's how my game could have gone...

The girl before me rolled a five. Then I followed up with a five. I was given the choice: steal or roll again. The audience was all in agreement. They wanted me to steal. But I responded, "I believe it was the late, great Charleton Heston who said, 'Thou shalt not steal!'" So I rolled again and walked away with an iPod Shuffle.

That's how it could have gone. But here's how it really went...

The girl before me rolled a five. Then I followed up with a five. I was given the choice: steal or roll again. The audience was all in agreement. They wanted me to steal. And who am I to deny the audience of what they want to see? Like a gladiator in the ancient colliseum, I went for the kill. Or the steal, as it were. the girl before me rolled again and I kept her five box. The prizes were revealed. I got the ZONK.

Ladies and gentlemen, I walked away with nothing. All because I succumbed to peer pressure and broke one of the Lord's commandments. Lesson learned.