Friday, September 29, 2006

On Eating Out

My wife Karen and I have eaten out a few more times than usual in the past few weeks. Travel is one of the reasons for it, but that's another story. Because of it, I got thinking about how being a follower of Jesus relates to sitting down in a restaurant and (hopefully!) enjoying a meal. A tip of the hat goes to Greg Koukl at Stand To Reason for these thoughts.

When we eat out at a "sit-down" restaurant, we deal, almost entirely, with the waiter or waitress. It's possible to make an impact on them, even in a short period of time. The fact is, most people treat the wait-staff like servants - badly, in other words. Therefore, we have a wide-open door of opportunity if we treat them with respect and dignity. After all, aren't we supposed to treat everyone that way? Of course we are! Each and every human being bears the image and likeness of God and therefore have value, worth, and dignity and are worthy of respect. Remember, too, the "Golden Rule" (that's how you would want to be treated).

There are a couple of ways we can do that:
  1. Learn their name, and once you've learned it, use it.
  2. Look at them when you talk to them.
  3. Say "please" and "thank you." We learned that when we were young and it's still important.
  4. Tip well. Between 15 and 20% is appropriate. Whatever you do, don't leave a gospel tract in place of a tip. If you do, they most likely won't read it and may be even more turned-off to Christianity than they were before.

Jesus is Lord of every part of life. Yes, even eating out and how we relate tothose around us when we do.

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