Pastor Leaves No Tip, Creates Controversy

Alois Bell, a pastor in the St. Louis area, went to Applebee's for a meal with a group. Since the group was larger than eight, an automatic gratuity of 18 percent was added to the bill. Bell objected to this tip, so she scratched out the tip on her credit card receipt and put a zero in its place. In addition, she wrote the message, "I give God 10 percent … Why do you get 18?" and added the word "Pastor" above her signature.
Chelsea Welch, the waitress, took a photo of the bill and uploaded it to the website Reddit. "I thought the note was insulting, but also comical," she told Consumerist.com. "And I thought other users would find it entertaining."
Apparently, Alois Bell did not find it entertaining. The pastor complained to Welch's manager and the waitress was fired. According to Welch, Bell told the manager that the controversy had "ruined" her reputation.
Yahoo! News reports that Bell, a pastor at Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries Church, admitted that her handling of the tip was "a lapse in my character and judgment." She did not expect that her signature would be, as a friend reported to her, "all over Yahoo. You went viral!" Bell claimed to be heartbroken and admitted that she had "brought embarrassment to my church and ministry."
An Applebee's spokesman said that the company had apologized to Pastor Bell for violating her "right to privacy." Surprised that Applebee's fired her, the waitress said, "I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone. I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting .... I've been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I've seen the Big Man used as reasoning."
Author Justin Lee commented on this story on Huffington Post, saying, "I'm a Christian. I'm proud of my faith, and I love the church. But sometimes my fellow Christians make me want to scream." He argues that we Christians have often become our own worst enemies by shouting about social issues or political candidates while being slow to show grace and mercy in our everyday lives. His concern is that "these acts of ungrace by Christians have far more power to damage Christianity's reputation and influence than any attack launched at the church from the outside."
But is it fair to judge the whole church by the acts of one ungracious person? Lee reports that this pastor's bad behavior is not, unfortunately, an isolated incident. He tells the story of his first job waiting tables, and how "the church crowd" got a reputation for being "the most demanding" and "the worst tippers." In conversations with server friends across the country, Lee has heard the same sentiment echoed repeatedly.
In many countries, servers are paid a fair wage and tips are an added incentive. But in the United States, servers are usually paid a low hourly wage (often just a little over $2) and are expected to make their living from tips. Like it or not, this is our American system, so a low tip is not sending a message to the cook or the restaurant manager. Instead, it is simply hurting the server who depends on tips to pay his or her bills.
TWW Editorial Team Member Frank Ramirez writes, "Waiters are taxed based on the receipts whether or not they get a tip. Having had two children spend time as waiters and bartenders (one is now an Olive Garden manager), I always overtip. Since waiters are underpaid, this is a social justice issue." He acknowledges that waiters are going to have bad days, but no server should have to "earn justice" or jump through hoops to please customers.
"We Christians are supposed to be the generous ones, not the stingy and selfish ones," concludes Justin Lee. "And I can tell you from experience, when servers see a pattern of Christians who tip poorly, it gives them one more reason to distrust anything and everything connected with Christianity."
More on this story can be found at these links:
Applebee’s Fires Waitress Who Posted Receipt From Pastor Complaining About Auto-Tip. Yahoo! News
When Christians Are Christianity's Worst Enemy. Huffington Post

The Big Questions
1. What message was the pastor trying to send by withholding the tip? Can a 10 percent tithe be compared to an 18 percent tip? Why or why not? How was the message received by the waitress? How would you receive the message, if you were wait staff or the parent or spouse of wait staff?
2. For Christians, is tithing mandatory or optional? Is tipping mandatory or optional? What messages are sent by a failure to do either? What do you tip? Do you put conditions on your tipping?
3. What was the effect of the restaurant patron making a point of writing "Pastor" on the receipt, below the zero tip? Would you have felt differently about the person if she had quietly left no tip or a smaller tip, without identifying herself?
4. How is ensuring a fair wage for low-income servers a way of giving to God? Should people be concerned about what others make? Should society at large have economic winners and losers?
5. With the tremendous growth of non-profits, how do we decide where our money goes? What priority does the church have? Are there times when giving to a non-church-based organization is more of an offering than giving to the church?
6. How does how we act in public match (or not) with our claim to be Christian? And if it doesn't match, what impression does that leave of Christianity?
7. A letter was sent to a newspaper advice columnist from a man who identified himself as a Christian. He described how he handled the matter of tipping when he ate out. Instead of leaving any money for the server, he left a gospel tract, figuring that the best "tip" he could give was to tell the server about Christ. What message was sent by this type of tip? What would happen if the individual who left the tract attempted to pay the restaurant bill or any other bill with a tract?

Confronting the News with Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Proverbs 11:24
Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. (For context, read 11:23-31a.)
This collection of the wise sayings of King Solomon contains a number of insights into how righteous and generous people behave, predicting that "the desire of the righteous ends only in good" (v. 23), "a generous person will be enriched" (v. 25) and "the righteous are repaid on earth" (v. 31a).
Questions: Where have you seen evidence that people who give freely "grow all the richer"? How are generous people enriched? What kinds of compensation do the righteous receive in life? Have you been treated with generosity in circumstances where you may not have deserved it? When have you been treated with less than generosity?
Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? (For context, read 58:1-14.)
The prophet Isaiah speaks of false worship, which includes the maintenance of self-serving fast days while you (the people of Israel) "oppress all your workers" (v. 3). In place of such fast days, God calls for his people "to loose the bonds of injustice" and "let the oppressed go free" (the latter, a line which Jesus quotes at the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4:18). Isaiah challenges the people to "share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house" (v. 7).
Questions: In what ways are we guilty of oppressing our workers? How can we work for justice through the tips we give service workers? How do our tithes and offerings in church help to free the oppressed?
Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. (For context, read 3:8-15.)
The prophet Malachi warns the people of Israel not to rob God by skimping on their tithe, a gift of 10 percent. God promises that overflowing blessings will be given to those who offer the full tithe, including protection from locusts and the gift of fertile vines. Malachi admonishes the people for questioning whether there is profit in keeping the commands of God (v. 14).
Questions: Where do you see value in offering a full tithe to God today? What benefits come to those who give this percentage? Are there charities besides the church that do God's work and deserve a portion of the tithe, or should such giving be above and beyond the 10 percent?
Luke 6:43-45
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. (For context, read 6:37-49.)
Jesus warns his followers about judging others, warning them about seeing the speck in a neighbor's eye while failing to notice the log in their own eye (v. 41). He also observes that we will be known by our fruits, and that good people produce good while evil people produce evil. He concludes by encouraging us to build our lives on the firm foundation of hearing his words and acting on them (vv. 46-49).
Questions: Why should we not rush to judgment about the pastor who failed to tip her waitress? What is the good that we should do in our relationships with those who serve us? If we hear the words of Jesus and act on them, how will we compensate those who serve us? How will we serve those who monetarily compensate us? And how will we support the ministry and mission of the church?
1 Corinthians 13:1-5
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. (For context, read 12:29--13:13.)
After writing to the Corinthians about spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul promises to show them "a still more excellent way" (12:29). His chapter on the gift of love reminds us that if we do not have love, we are nothing. Among the many qualities of love are patience and kindness, with no place in love for envy, boasting, arrogance or rudeness.
Questions: Where could you be more patient and loving in your contact with service workers? What conclusions do our neighbors make when they see Christians showing arrogance or rudeness? How can this be addressed in the church? Did the pastor show love by leaving a note instead of a tip? Did the waitress show love by posting the receipt online? Did the restaurant show love by firing her? How might the "better way" Paul proposes have produced a better result?
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (For context, read 9:1-15).
Paul is embarking on a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem, and is asking the Corinthians to provide a "bountiful gift" (v. 5). He wants them to consider this a voluntary gift, not an extortion, so he reminds them that "God loves a cheerful giver," and promises them that "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance" (v. 8). Paul predicts that they "will be enriched in every way" for their great generosity (v. 11).
Questions: What are the factors that prevent us from being cheerful givers in church and society? When do you feel you are being asked to give reluctantly or under compulsion? What could be done to improve your attitude toward giving?
James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (For context, read 2:14-26.)
James asserts that Christian faith without works is dead, and makes the case that faith is "brought to completion" by works (v. 22). Using a physical analogy, he points out that "just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead" (v. 26). Later in his letter, he issues a warning to rich oppressors, saying, "Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts" (5:4).
Questions: How is our Christian faith brought to completion by our use of money? If the people who serve us in restaurants, hotels, hair salons and cabs are among the lowest wage-earners in our society, what should we do to "supply their bodily needs"? Where do you see evidence that some laborers are cheated out of wages today? What evidence do you see that some laborers are cheating their employers today?

For Further Discussion
1. What are the forces that work against tithing in church today? What can be done to increase the size of gifts in support of God's work?
2. When do you give the biggest tips to restaurant servers? When do you give smaller tips? Should tips always be the same percentage? Why or why not?
3. In some parts of Europe, restaurant servers are paid their full wages directly, and tips are usually just a coin or two to show appreciation. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the European system? Should it be adopted here?
4. The pastor in the Applebee's story said that her handling of the tip was "a lapse in my character and judgment." The waitress showed no similar remorse about her decision to post a picture of the receipt online. How could she have handled the situation differently?
5. Dr. Harry Wendt, Bible scholar and President of Crossways International, teaches that we should consider everything we have to be God's, on loan to us. If we "give back" 10 percent and think the rest is ours to do with as we choose, are we, in effect, robbing God of the 90 percent? What is the significance of giving more than 10 percent to God?
6. Where do you see opportunities for Christians to use their money in ways that have a positive impact on society, and to spread a message of grace, generosity and love?
7. TWW editorial team Member Frank Ramirez recommends that when you leave a tip, "round up." Ask yourself: What exactly could you do with the change you'd save by figuring out fifteen percent exactly? Not much. But more important, ask yourself: What does it say about you? When you give people more than they deserve, you are showing grace. Discuss what tipping tells the world about the quality of Christian life.
Responding to the News
When you go out to a restaurant this week, leave a slightly larger tip than you normally would. Think about how it makes the server feel, and how it makes you feel. Consider it an act of grace in a world so in need of the love of Jesus Christ.