Monday, November 2, 2009

Witnessing to the waitstaff

I work in the restaurant business. I have for way longer than I really want to admit. One of the odd things about the business is the way that different days have different character. Sunday is not one of those better days, and, sadly, it's due in large part to the crowds of churchy folk who come out to eat after worship service. By "churchy folk" I don't mean Christians, I mean people who go to church, usually very legalistic types. Most of the people who I know in the business who are not Christian and are overtly hostile to the faith are hostile not so much because of the offense of the gospel, but because of the behavior of the "Christians" they encounter on a day to day basis. Maybe it's because of their conscience getting at them about their hypocrisy, but these folk get out of church, go out to eat, and proceed to treat the people taking care of them in a shockingly wicked fashion.

The other sort of Christians who undermine their witness are the genuine folk who lose their audience by tipping poorly, or not tipping at all, after witnessing to someone. Asking the server if you can pray for them as you are about to say grace is a very effective and disarming tactic for introducing people to the gospel, and leaving pamphlets can serve a purpose, but if you leave literature in lieu of a tip, you have completely lost the person you are trying to reach, and leaving a poor tip does the same thing. If you offend someone with anything but the gospel, you risk losing your audience.

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