Should Christians be good tippers? This was the question tackled by Thomas S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, as he shared the true story of two pastors who were at odds with each other because of tipping.
"Two pastors were at lunch together," he wrote in his website. "The older pastor paid for their previous meal, so the younger pastor picked up the tab for this meal. The younger pastor paid cash for the meal, so his older friend asked if he had included a tip. He said he forgot the tip, so he put some cash on the table."
As soon as they left, the younger pastor claimed to have forgotten something and returned to the restaurant. But when the older pastor looked through the window, he saw the young man go back to their table, pick up the intended tip, then put it in his pocket.
"Hopefully, such stories are rare. But we do have reasons to be concerned when church members and Christian leaders treat restaurant servers and other service employees so poorly," said Rainer.
Tipping is an opportunity to represent the name of Christ well, he said, and God placed people in the service industry for a reason. Generosity is also another way people can be pointed toward Christ, and people will not respond to the Christian faith if its members demonstrate a greedy attitude.
"We have seen in numerous studies that churches with a passion and heart for their communities are the churches making a difference," he said.
Generous tipping also reflects a compassionate and grateful heart, and it can help many servers who are struggling to make ends meet. When people tip nicely, they are demonstrating kindness and compassion, as well as gratitude for service.
Rainer also said that a lot of people are blessed with abundance, and that is why they should be generous with what God has given them. "Healthy tipping is thus a matter of evangelistic witness and wise stewardship," he said.
On the other hand, when people tip poorly, it can take a while for a witness to get over that negative experience. "A few years ago, our organization went to lunch together. They tipped very poorly. The server wrote on Facebook about these employees with clear reference to our organization. Our witness was thus compromised with the server and with the public in general," he shared.
Rainer admitted that he has little patience with those who are stingy to servers. He believes that if they can afford to eat out, then they can afford to tip generously.
So what happened with the story of the two pastors? The elder pastor immediately went back to the restaurant, apologized to the server, then left her a 100 percent tip
