Over the years, I have been friends with many people who have waited tables for a living. They tell some great stories about all the various kinds of people they meet, and have an incredible ability to analyze a person just by the way they walk into a resturant and sit down. Due to all the personal interaction, it seems that waiters and waitresses can be pretty good a judging a person's character and personality. Yet over and over again, I hear such a sad truth: all waiters and waitresses hate being assigned the Sunday lunch shift because they know they will get shorted on their tip. The first time one of my friends mentioned this to me in college, I thought maybe it was just his particular resturant. Maybe there was one church in particular that always seemed to frequent to his tables and he had one bad experience.
Unfortunately, I can say that years later, I have spoken with dozens of waiters and waitresses, from staunchly atheist to strong believers in Christ, and they all have the same story. What a sad reality that as Christians we might choose to dress up for a day of worship, head into a church to corporately bring praise to our God, thank him for blessings, declare our love for Him, commit to live according to His word, and then to immediately walk into a resturant and choose to offer the very smallest possible amount to one who is choosing to serve us.
I can only imagine if the tables were turned. What if instead people were begging to be assigned the Sunday afternoon shift, knowing that Christians were notoriously the most generous with their tips. What if across the nation, it was widely known that those who come from church and profess to love their neighbor live that out first thing at their lunch tables! This week, may we be challenged to "not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." May our worship this week be accompained by searching opportunities to share Christ through our life.
