Surcharges Included

There is a trend lately to charge the customer with the 3.5% or more that the credit card company typically charges the business. The convenience of using credit now comes with a cost. Recently when preparing for surgery, the medical facility urged me to write a check instead of paying with a credit card so I would avoid those surcharges. This was strange to me. I no longer even carry a checkbook with me since most of the time I use my debit card or credit card to pay for purchases.

How would this benefit a company to pass along the charges to the customer or to urge them to use a check? As we all know, there is no guarantee with a check until it’s attempted to be deposited or cashed. The writer may or may not have sufficient funds in their account to cover the expenditure. It seems to me that the business is actually taking a larger risk by urging the customers to write checks. The business is trying to avoid the costs of convenience. No longer is using credit easy. It’s costly. Isn’t that what the Bible teaches us?

In John 14:6 Jesus himself declares: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In our day and age we look for the easy way, the cheapest way, the most straightforward path. Jesus gives us that. We follow Him. We don’t have to add on all these extra “surcharges” to salvation. We don’t have to do so many good works for others. We don’t have to study God’s Word. We don’t have to give up our vices. We don’t have to be baptized. All of those are well and good and AFTER we follow Jesus we will want to add or subtract those elements from our life. But initially, Jesus says just to follow Him. It seems too elementary. We want to make more sense and earn our salvation. However, Jesus already paid the price. Therefore, He doesn’t add any surcharges to us.