While standing third in line at a thrift store I watched as the following incident played out. The first young lady in line had two large trash bags of goods she had just purchased. She was trying to fit the first one into her cart when the second lady in line reached across the remaining bag that still lay on the counter with her item to purchase. The cashier refused to take it and sharply stated, “No, wait!” The woman quickly lowered her head in disgust and no longer made eye contact with the cashier, who then told the woman, “I am sorry, but I cannot take your item until the first customer has left, that’s just rude.” The woman never raised her head, but angrily muttered something about how long she had to wait. She finished paying and left in a huff having never looked at him.

Christians must learn how to live and work among people who have no time for God and His ways, nor the people who try to follow Him. We must stand apart.

On the surface, it might seem like the cashier was being rude and created a bad situation by what he said, but I noticed something else. As the cashier started speaking to the woman I looked directly at him. I noted that his speech was ever so slightly choppy and that while looking generally in her direction he seemed to look past her. I recognized that he probably had some sort of high-functioning autism or Asperger’s. What happened next confirmed my suspicions even further.

As he was ringing me out another cashier came over to grab a bag from his station. I could tell he was immediately upset by this and the other cashier immediately apologized for coming into his workspace. She obviously knew this was an invasion of his area and something that made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Autistic people often like to have things laid out for them and do not like change or unexpected activities. From an Internet discussion board, one man writes: “I don't have much ability to tune things out or multitask. So I have to attend to everything going on at once, and attending to two things at once feels as if I'm the rope in a game of tug of war” ("Why Is Change Difficult for an Autistic Person?" April 10, 2015, Quora.com)

Our Christian lives can often feel the same way. We are trying to live our lives peaceably with all peoples and walk the path God has laid out for us, but obstacles continually interfere. As society continually changes and decides what it feels is acceptable and unacceptable for the world, we must make our own choices. Being politically correct is not always in line with God’s way. We cannot become social isolationists, so what can we do? (Mark 16:15).

Like the cashier, we must learn to survive in a world that can seem very foreign and challenging for us. We must teach ourselves how to cope with situations and people that put us into uncomfortable situations. Scripture warns us to be careful who we associate with and not to follow those who do not follow God, but their own ways (Jeremiah 9:3-6).

We are told that it is not uncommon to be tempted and if we live as we should God will help us (1 Corinthians 10:13). The second woman in the story never looked up at the man; she didn’t want to see him. Had she done so she might have noted that he was a little different and doing things the only way he could in order to cope. We must also look up. We must take note of the God who loves us. God loves righteousness and wants us to follow that line of thinking even when the world seems to be attacking us. Psalm 11 tells us we will be tried and that God has no time for the wicked (Psalms 11:1-7).

Autistic people often have a hard time making close friends or working well with others because of their difficulty functioning according to society’s rules and all the commotion that surrounds them. God’s ways are also not popular. Christians must learn how to live and work among people who have no time for God and His ways, nor the people who try to follow Him. We must stand apart (John 15:19; 1 John 2:15).

The second cashier in the scenario was going about her business, but mindful of what was happening around her. She knew her coworker was sensitive but was steadfast in her goal to finish her work. She adjusted her actions in her approach to his station by apologizing but kept moving forward with what she needed to be doing. We too must stay mindful of our Christian walk as we trek through the ways of this world. Making sure we don’t stray from the narrow path, but at the same time, not stepping on the people around us as we remain steadfast in our Christian goal.