I was a guest of a friend of mine  at a breakfast meeting recently where two business people made brief presentations about their businesses. While these people spoke, a man and a woman sitting only a foot away from me talked the entire time.

This was incredibly rude to the speakers and inconsiderate to those of us sitting near them.

When I was driving to my next appointment I couldn’t stop thinking about how just plain wrong that behavior was.

I’m not sure what makes people behave like that.

The person speaking — whether you think they’re boring or not — worked to put that presentation together. They did their best to present information they believed the audience would want to hear and would benefit from.

I think Christ-like behavior is much more than making a donation or volunteering at church or at a soup kitchen.

Christ-like behavior involves good manners. It means treating people with kindness and compassion.  Keep in mind when Christ was asked who was our neighbor he shared the parable of the Good Samaritan. His question back to the guy who asked him this was “which showed him more compassion?” So compassion is something we’re all expected to give to each other.

To me, not being courteous to someone who’s speaking — whether you agree with what they say or not, and whether you think they’re a dazzling speaker or not — is the most basic way we demonstrate our compassion and therefore radiate the light of Christ to others.