Wake Up, Look Up

[Music]

hello everybody thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach

wrock and in today's episode we're

asking the question should I leave a tip

this is prompted by a story that I read

this week that's really picking up on a

phenomenal we're probably all feeling

which is as a culture we're developing a

little bit of tip fatigue it feels like

everywhere I go these days I'm expected

to leave a tip if I get a cup of coffee

if I pick up takeout if I go to a

restaurant and that's resulting not just

in the feeling of fatigue it's resulting

in Americans tipping Less in fact the

decline there is a declining average of

what we're tipping even at full full

service restaurants so these are

restaurants where a waiter or waitress

is dependent on tips and the expectation

is you would tip 20% uh actually the

average now is down to just over 19 and

the needle is pointing downwards we are

tipping less and less than we ever have

now there are a couple of reasons for

that honestly I mean one is the fatigue

I talked about before the other is a

little bit of an economic downturn uh

menu price are way up things cost more

now inflation has hit groceries and

restaurants and so as a result the meal

that used to cost you $20 now cost you

25 and so people are tipping less

because they don't have as much

disposable income some of what they

would have tipped is going to order the

menu price also people are eating out

less um the consequence of having less

disposable income is people just aren't

going to restaurants restaurants in fact

are cing bankruptcy with a pretty at a

pretty high rate Red Lobster for example

staple of my childhood recently declared

bankruptcy siding not enough people

going and Rising menu prices but if you

work at a restaurant you know that

you're getting paid a reduced rate

because the assumption is you're making

your living on tips and whether or not

the economy is doing well or not you

expect that family or couple that shows

up to eat to tip you and to tip you well

in fact you're dependent on it so it

brings up questions of fairness is it

fair if we go out to eat and the server

does a good job and we don't tip them

the expected amount it brings up

questions of value especially because

most people in the restaurant industry

at least on the serving side are in that

lower to Mid uh income bracket they

depend on these tips and it can feel

like wealthier people eating out don't

value the work of bluecollar people it's

actually resulted in some cities

pursuing policy changes in Washington DC

for example they've done away with

tipping that's really only led to

confusion though because now when you go

to a restaurant you still feel like you

should tip but you're not sure it hasn't

necessarily produced the outcome they

hope so how should we think about this

as Christians what does the Bible have

to say about tipping well first of all

you know the Bible teaches we are

stewards of the resources that God has

given us not my money it's God's money

and I do think we should be wise about

how how often we eat out the truth of

the truth is that most Americans are in

crippling debt they don't have a lot of

disposable income they're not saving for

retirement or for the future a biblical

wisdom probably will lead you to uh

making more meals at home being wiser

about when you go out but here's the

thing if you decide that you can be a

good student and go out on a special

occasion or a Friday night I think the

Bible does call us to honor workers and

be generous Proverbs 11 for example has

a lot to say about this we should value

the work that people do and we should be

generous if we don't have the money to

eat out and tip well then we shouldn't

be eating out in the first place it's

almost like we're saying everyone except

for the server gets rewarded if we can't

afford the expected 20% or so supposing

they do a good job then we should be at

home or at a cheaper restaurant where

tipping is not the expectation Now 1

Timothy 5:18 says that we shouldn't

muzzle the ox the laborer is worthy of

his wages people who work hard for their

money who provide a service with whom we

enter into a business relationship

should above all people be able to

expect Christians to be fair to be

responsible to be generous to do their

part in the economic relationship we

should tip and by the way while I got

you on this subject let me just say this

if you don't leave a generous tip please

don't let them know you're a follower of

Jesus I've been at restaurants where

people say can we pray for you and don't

leave a tip or leave a gospel track that

looks like a $20 bill or when you open

it says this is something even better

than a $20 bill not if you have to make

rent that month if you're going to wear

the name of Jesus at a restaurant and I

hope you do make sure you wear it in a

way that is in keeping with his

generosity should you leave a tip yes

and if you can't then stay home hey

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