My brothers and sisters, something is on my heart today. It’s this: rumor abounds in the land that we are bad tippers.
The other day I was having breakfast with a brother and he originally put down a tip that was only about 10%. We had prayed before our meal, and I knew the waitress had seen that. It happened to be a Sunday morning, so it called to mind the stereotypes about how wait-staff hate to work Sundays, because they don’t make any money on the church crowd.
Quickly, I added a few more dollars to bring the tip up to a more appropriate level.
I tell this story not to boast about my own tipping. I do my best, but I’m not rich. I tell it as an example for all of us.
When we are out in public and pray over a meal, the world sees “Christians.” By our public act of faith, we have invited the world to make judgments about “Christians” based on how we act.
I know and you know that judging a whole group of people by the actions of one or a few is a form of bigotry. But this is the world we live in, and we must be aware that, when we publicly identify ourselves by our relationship with God, then all the followers of Jesus are being judged along with us.
Second Corinthians tells us, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us.” The case for Jesus is being made through us! How we treat the people around us, helps people get to know Jesus. And “how we treat them” definitely includes tipping them.
The word is full of exhortations to those who employ servants to treat them with love and respect. We must never lose sight of it.
There’s a old trope among us — the idea of “tracting.” It refers to leaving a bible verse on the table. Some believers go so far as to leave a tract in place of a tip, or alongside a very poor tip.
And how well will that be received?
The person bringing our food depends on our tips for their livelihood. If we want to share the word of God with them, how much better will they receive it if we make a nice impact on that livelihood.
Love your fellow humans. Tip them well when they bring you food. When you do, you are increasing the chances that they’ll get to know Jesus for who he is.