I needed to buy a new pair of dress shoes to go with my brand new gray J. C. Penny’s suit. Back in 1992 I was invited to travel with my pastor to Poland and Czechoslovakia to visit some missionaries and it was required that I was to have along with me some nice Sunday church clothes. It was a 14 day trip, and as I was packing I also realized I didn’t have any shoes to go with the suit. I was told that I was going to share my story in many churches so the pastor I went with wanted me to look nice, I definitely needed some nice shoes.

An older friend from our church, who was very wealthy, heard about our trip and asked me if there was anything I needed that he could help me with. I told him I was looking to buy a nice pair of shoes because all I really owned were Nike tennis shoes and some black snow boots; neither of which looked good with my gray suit. He said, “Hey, you are in luck! I just bought a few pairs of penny loafers on sale at the place I regularly buy shoes from and one pair is a bit thinner than the others and it doesn’t fit too well on my foot. It is a $250 pair of genuine leather Brooks Brothers penny loafers. They are size 9 ½, would that fit you?” 

I thought to myself, “I normally wear size 10, but they are a $250 pair of shoes, and Brooks Brothers no less! I will make them fit.” 

I smiled at him and said that sounded just great. Later that day he stopped by and dropped off the shoes at my house. They were the shiniest pair of shoes I ever saw, nothing but high class! He gave them to me, shook my hand and said, “Enjoy! I hope you have a great trip.” 

After he left I sat down in the living room with the new pair of shoes in my hands. I looked on the inside, they were 9 ½ alright. So I took off my Nike shoes and tried them on. They just barely slipped on, but I figured they would work fine. I walked around a bit and I could feel my toes being crunched a little in the front, but all in all they felt okay. And hey, they were $250 and they looked great.

So I packed them in my suitcase and we left for Eastern Europe the next week.

I will never forget the day. The pastor and I went to visit a small church in the Czech city of Zlin. It is where Donald Trump’s first wife Ivana is from. Before we left I put on my suit, a pair of black socks, and the new penny loafers. They seemed a bit tighter on my feet than the first time I tried them on, but it was all I had to match my suit so I bit my tongue and squeezed them on. The car ride was an hour drive to get to the church through the beautiful Czech countryside, and sitting in the backseat I decided to take off the shoes because my feet were getting really sore.

I put them back on once we arrived at the church and everything went fine. I spoke a little and enjoyed worshipping with the kind people from Zlin. After the service the pastor told me that we were going to have lunch at the church meeting room and then take a tour of the city. “Sounded fun,” I said. We had rabbit soup and meatballs for lunch, some pastry for dessert and drank a lot of tea. After lunch we left the church and we went walking in the warm sun of a friendly afternoon.

We only traveled a few blocks and I could already feel the shoes rubbing hard on the back of my heels. We stopped at a coffee shop, visited a local school, and then went hiking up a few trails at the local park. By the time we got to the park two massive blisters formed where the shoes were rubbing. The pain was excruciating! I didn’t want to stop because our hosts were incredibly kind, but it felt like my feet were going to fall off. When we finally got back in the car I could barely take my shoes off because my poor feet were swollen, throbbing, and a bloody mess. 

For the rest of the trip I had to bandage my feet and I never wore those lousy penny loafers again! They may have looked swell but from that time forth I referred to them as the penny loafers from hell.

So what is the point? Don’t wear shoes in Eastern Europe that are too tight and too small no matter how nice they look. Because if you do your feet will end up a bloody mess.

I can remember a few years after this incident I was buying a pair of shoes at a local shoe store. I noticed a person who was trying on a pair of shiny penny loafer shoes and they were forcing them on because they really liked how they looked. I wanted to run over to the man and warn him in my loudest voice, “Don’t buy those shoes, they will ruin your life!” But I decided not to, I shrunk back, and held my tongue because a few controlling thoughts came in my mind:

• What if the person is not a Christian? Do I have the right to warn people who are not part of the body of Christ? Since I am a Christian am I only allowed to warn Christians and let the rest of the world perish with their heels soaked in a pool of blood?
• Is it too judgmental to say it is dangerous for a person to desire tight penny loafers? Isn’t it arrogant to think that my experience will happen to other people? Don’t we all have our own truth?
• Sure, Christian feet get blisters, but why should I assume those who are not Christians get blisters too? Maybe they have tougher heel skin than silly, Bible-thumping, rule-following Christians? To assume non-Christians may bleed too is to project your tribal failings on others, isn’t it?
• Maybe experiences for other people can be different than the experiences you have?
• Maybe it is just best for Christians to keep their mouths shut? Because when Christians talk about shoes we know they secretly are being political, because you know, I heard Donald Trump wears penny loafers too. Come to think of it, so does Obama and Biden.

So if a Christian thinks socialism over the years has destroyed society after society, and nation after nation, in the same way they know tight shoes cause blood blisters, you still must keep your own darn opinion to yourself. You must hush up because if you don’t you will be bringing shame on the name of Christ and embarrassing those of us who don’t wear penny loafers, or don’t care if socialism takes effect. If you as a Christian think it is very important to help people keep their livelihoods and save their business at the risk of passing a virus that is not deadly for 99% of the people – because the numbers prove it out (like wearing too tight of shoes scientifically prove they eventually hurt the feet) – that is still your own opinion and it can be construed as political. And anything construed as political is a no-no for Christians. Even though people who are not Christians freely share their opinions about the virus, clearly they are not being political because non-Christians never have selfish motives. Only Christians do because they are patriarchal colonizing monsters. So you, my dear Christian brother or sister, are always going to be seen as political…your job is simple, go to your prayer closet and keep it between you and God even if you think you are reasoning rightly. 

Oh I wish I never wore those stupid shoes because I will never forget the pain on my heels, and I can’t stop seeing the dried blood on my socks, and I can’t keep quiet. Because it felt like hell.

“When your words came, I ate them;

they were my joy and my heart’s delight,

for I bear your name,

LORD God Almighty.

I never sat in the company of revelers,

never made merry with them;

I sat alone because your hand was on me

and you had filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain unending

and my wound grievous and incurable?

You are to me like a deceptive brook,

like a spring that fails.

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“If you repent, I will restore you

that you may serve me;

if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,

you will be my spokesman.

Let this people turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.”

(Jeremiah 15:16-19)