Tip jars and christianity (1 Timothy 4)

Does what we place in the tip jar say anything about our faith?

As I write this blog in the gloomy morning light of a rainy day in Portland, I'm sitting in a local coffee shop. I walked in today and stepped up to the counter. I ordered my drink and picked out a cheddar bagel. I gave them my card and the slip came back to me with space for a tip. I reflexively crossed out the tip line and left the total unaltered. I mean its just a cup of coffee, it takes them a minute or two and I served myself the bagel. Why would I need to give a tip? I began to think about this as I sat down at my little table and plugged in my laptop.

I was reminded of the Chinese restaurant my wife used to work at when we were in seminary. They had a lunch buffet, a pretty good one too. There was a professor from the seminary who used to frequent the buffet on a fairly regular basis. Laura knew him and greeted him when he came in. When she went into the back of the restaurant the owner pointed out the professor and called him the 52 cent man. Laura gave her a quizzical look and the owner explained. "Whenever he comes in for the lunch buffet he rounds up his check to the nearest dollar which is only 52 cents." This was the whole amount of the tip he left. The owner didn't know who he was, she didn't know he was a professor at the seminary, she didn't know he was a public evangelist who lived his life proclaiming Jesus. All she knew him by was the 52 cents he left as a measly little tip.

In 1 Timothy chap 4, Paul continues to instruct his young mentee in what it means to be a good minister to his community. The chapter finishes with the statement, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers." Watch both your life and your doctrine Timothy. Not just your doctrine, not just your life. You have to watch them both. What if Timothy taught the love of Christ and then when he went to his local seafood restaurant and left a 52 cent tip. In the 1st century that might have been a lot, but you get my point.

Jesus lived and taught a life of generosity. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, if you are commanded to walk one mile carrying a soldiers pack walk two instead, if a man asks for your coat give him your shirt as well. Paul tells Timothy to watch both his doctrine and his life. The two must meet, live together, become one. "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young," says Paul, "but be an example in speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Devote yourself to the teaching and preaching of the word of God." They are both there life and faith enmeshed with one another. Faith and the tip jar are related.

Rob bell has said one of the exhortations in the 1st century was, may the dust of your rabbi cover you. May you be close enough to your rabbi that the dust of his feet covers you. May we walk today covered in the teachings of Jesus. May our life be covered in our faith.

If you would excuse me I have a date with the tip jar.