Selective Christianity

My wife and I decided to get a late-night salad last night and ended up having a lengthy chat with our server. The server apparently doesn't like working Sunday nights because that's when all the "church people" come in. They usually show up about 15 minutes before closing, in parties of 25-30. She described them as "demanding," "complainers," and "cheap tippers" who "keep her running." The girl sounded sincere. She was just a poor kid struggling to make ends meet and get through school.

Now, humbly, I would like to offer a few tips to the Sunday night church crowd:

• This girl has a soul too. If you are trying to "win souls" you're not making a great first impression.
• Oh, and she is a person too, with feelings. The people serving you are not robots, slaves, bottom feeders, or whatever you think they are. They are humans like you and I.
• Everyone deserve some change. This restaurant doesn't add the tip on for large parties. I'll bet each of you is thinking that the other person is tipping. She said you guys leave about a $1 each, now is that 15%? After working her to death and making her stay late, THEN YOU STIFF HER?
• You are just from church, wearing your dresses and ties. Don't you think you should at least bless your food first?

Now, this is a behavior I too have noticed at restaurants. As soon as the clock strikes noon, church folks around here swarm the restaurants, and although dressed nicer, they don't seem to act any different than the other patrons who are wearing shorts or biker leather. In fact, church folks usually act WORSE in restaurants. The famous rebuttal I hear is that church people are NOT any better or different — just forgiven. Now, before you use that line, please stop a moment to consider how ridiculous that is.

In summary, stop just "playing church" and start showing some real love and compassion for your fellow humans. You can start with your server.