Do you tip people who provide services to you? Where? Most people would say restaurants as the most obvious place for tips. But there are plenty of other places where people will accept them. Here are just a few:
Salons
Drivers/valets
Hair stylists/barbers
Bartenders
I looked up some statistics on which states in America tip the most. California was number 1, with an average tipping percentage of 22.69 percent. The worst tipping state was Illinois, at 14.22 percent. That is quite a spread. Here are some more interesting stats on the subject of tipping:
40 percent of the respondents for a poll said that they have been guilted into tipping, or guilted into tipping more than they would normally have tipped. And 67 percent said that they feel societal pressure to tip more.
You might be surprised to learn that tipping began as a result of wealthy Americans vacationing in Europe. In the 1850s and 1860s visiting Americans discovered this tradition that grew out of a master-serf relationship established in medieval times. While on vacation Americans saw that servants were given extra money for performing their jobs well. When they came back home they began tipping restaurant servers for good service, but this was originally frowned upon. A lot of diner owners saw this as condescending behavior and didn’t allow it. It was considered classist, making poor Americans pay more than what was asked for their meal. This anti-tipping stance made its way back to Europe and spread across that continent, and nowadays most European restaurants don’t accept tips.
So how did America change to favor tipping? It pretty much had to do with racism. After the Civil War the constitution was amended to end slavery, but this didn’t mean that all jobs were now open for everyone. There was a limited number of industries that were realistic places for former slaves to work. Restaurants were one of those places. But many employers wouldn’t pay much, if anything, to freed men working table service. Instead they turned to tipping as a practice. So the workers worked, but only for tips. The practice has stuck with America to this day.
What is the Christian response to tipping? Is tipping something we should do in response to good service? Or should we just do it? Is it ok not to tip?
Are Christians generally good tippers? The answer to that is a resounding “no.” It is not hard to find examples. One came from Daily Finance, where a waiter said they thought they were getting a 10 dollar tip but instead found the “bill” to be a Christian tract (with no tip). The note sticking out from underneath the plate read “Some things are better than money, like your eternal salvation that was bought and paid for by Jesus going to the cross.” The waiter posted the picture of the note on Reddit saying “I have never been more atheist.”
There seems to be a lot of examples of fake bills with Christian-like saying on them used in lieu of tips. The first time I could find of their use was in 2006 when a waitress was crying over getting many of them instead of actual money after the Southern Baptist Convention came through her city. My sister-in-law used to work in the food service industry, and she has told me that the Sunday brunch time is one of the most dreaded times for servers to work. This is because the work is demanding (there are a lot of people coming to eat after church lets out) and the tips are low (Christians don’t tip well). Why would anyone want to work under those conditions?
Should this be the case?
Proverbs 11:25
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Let that sit in the next time you go out to eat. Ask yourself, how can you spread your faith? Do I want to be known as a generous person? The practice of tipping may not be the best thing to do, but it is what we have. What are we going to do with it?
God bless