“Can’t Tip Someone Who Doesn’t Love Jesus.” Check, Please!

August 21, 2017

“Remind [believers] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy….” –Titus 3:1-5

Neo-Nazis. Antifa. The Right. The Left. The Liberals. The Conservatives. Muslims. Blacks. Gays. I can feel the hate. What is fake news, and what is responsible journalism? Where is truth? Then I read the above note quoted in my title, scribbled on a restaurant bill to a lesbian waitress, and my first thought was: have Christians actually forgot that their goal in life is to help lead others to Jesus, to WANT to see them go to heaven? I’ve read quite a few comments posted in response to this, and many common-sense opinions offered. I wanted to add my own, but decided to pray about it first. I find that I am often over-eager to weigh in with my own opinion, without first praying about it and finding out God’s take on things, found in the Bible, which is often misquoted or taken out of context.

To wit: many people responded to the above discussion by saying, “Jesus loved everybody. He would give a generous tip.” True, but sometimes I think this leaves the impression that he would smile and lie to you to win public approval and give you a false sense of security. But is this a true picture of God? How do we know unless we read his message to us for ourselves? Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) Jesus’ words and testimony are in the Bible. You cannot know God without reading his Word!

So, did Jesus love everybody? God’s MAIN message to us is one of love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) There are many people, including some professing Christians, that think that God is “out to get them” or others for the bad things they’ve done, to punish them. Yet 1 Timothy 2: 3-4 says: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  Notice it says that God desires “all people” to be saved? Neo-Nazis. Antifa. The Left. The Right. The Liberals. The Conservatives. Muslims. Blacks. And yes, those who wear gay pride tattoos. God is not “out to get us.” He is out to save us.

If you get the impression from other Christians or have the impression yourself that God is a cosmic killjoy who wants to punish people, consider the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The entire chapter is actually Jesus’ response to the judgmental attitude of the religious leaders of the day, who grumbled about Jesus’ habit of hanging out with “sinners” to teach them about God.

Jesus starts out by relaying a story about a young man who dishonors his father by demanding his inheritance early, then goes off to another country to squander it on “reckless living.” A famine arises in this land, and the son finds himself destitute, having less to eat than the pigs he was hired to tend. He comes to the realization that if he goes back home and asks his father for forgiveness for his rebellion, he might be merciful and take him back as a servant, where he’d at least have enough food to eat and a warm bed. And the following is the picture Jesus wants us to have of our Heavenly Father when we come back to him humbled and destitute:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” –Luke 15:20-24

What is Jesus saying? God is waiting for you to come home. He wants to throw his arms around you and kiss you, because he never stops loving you, even when you wander off and act foolishly. His heart overflows with joy that you are safe at home, back in his care. Note in this story that when we are separated from God, we are spiritually dead to God? A dead person cannot revive themselves. We are powerless to fix the problem. We need divine help. If we don’t realize we are spiritually dead, or lost, we won’t ask for help, until, like the prodigal son, we realize our hopeless state. Thank God Jesus said: “I have come to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) Are you lost? God is actively looking for you!

Jesus also referred to God as our Heavenly Father, a figure that should represent the most tender relationship between a caregiver and a child. Jesus left his glory in heaven to be born as a human, to teach the truth about God, and to lay down his life for us and rescue us from the peril of spiritual death. I don’t know about you, but that is love in action. When men and women give their lives to save another, we call them heroes. We put up statues. We learn about them. We sometimes try to emulate them. We honor them. Why not God?

So, back to the starting point, we have ample proof that God is love. Maybe, instead of asking if Jesus loves everybody, we should ask, “Does Jesus treat everyone “nicely” so as not to offend?” Truth be told, no! “I thought Jesus was the embodiment of love,” you may say. He was. He is. So much so that he will tell you the truth, even if it offends you. His motive is not to offend you. It is always, always to save you. If God is love, he cannot do wrong. He cannot lie. Just like a natural father teaches a child & disciplines a child, it should be out of love, out of wanting to protect that child from hurt and pain. When people reject God’s moral laws and insist on their own, they will find that they are hurting themselves and other people. Over and over again, the bible warns us about living a life that pleases ourselves or other people, and not God. That is the problem with homosexuality. But let’s not single out homosexual conduct. It is ANY conduct that is contrary to God’s loving wisdom.

We see churches these days wink at sin, refusing to correct those practicing it, because they don’t want to offend anyone. It’s the norm of society, so they reason that we have to conform to the world’s standards or folks will not come to church. This is what religion does. It tries to make God palatable. This is not Jesus’ example. As a mother or father of a child you love, you wouldn’t lie to them to avoid hurting their feelings if you knew their behavior would end their life. You would tell them the truth, even if it hurt, so that they would not die. It is not bigotry to call homosexuality a sin. It is not bigotry to call engaging in pre-marital sex a sin. It is not bigotry to call any sin “sin.” God does, and he is not a bigot. He is our Heavenly Father. He is love. He cannot lie.

God inspired the apostle Paul to write, “ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9)

I write this not to judge you, but to bless you. I do not write this out of a superior attitude. I would like you to know that before I became a Christian, I lived a very sinful, immoral lifestyle, and I was miserable because I was hurting myself. I was trying to meet my needs my way, instead of relying on God to provide for me. I would like you to know that after I became a Christian, I did not become perfect overnight, nor am I now. I would like you to know that when I experienced God’s love for me and his forgiveness, despite my messed up life, he put in me a desire to please him and trust him like a young child who listens to her dad because he knows better. I would like you to know living a life under God’s care is the richest blessing imaginable.

So just what IS bigotry? Is it intolerance toward someone who has a differing opinion? Yes and no. When we have an attitude of fear or superiority toward another group of people, and act on those attitudes, that is bigotry. But society seems to twist this to suit their own agenda. For example, if we stand up and tell people what they are doing is wrong in God’s eyes, we may be called a bigot. Yet we know how to stand up to racism, and would think it is crazy to be called a bigot for doing so. We know how to correct our children when they do wrong, and would think it strange if they called us bigots for doing so. Just like any parent, God does not allow his children to do anything and everything they want. Is this intolerance? Or is it love? The difference between bigotry and love is now obvious. When our motives lack love, our actions will give us away.

Jesus always treated others with respect and compassion, with one surprising exception: he was very blunt with the religious leaders of his day. In Matthew Chapter 23, Jesus publicly denounces them, saying, “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!,” no less than five times. He calls them “blind guides” and “blind fools,” finishing his critique up with, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matthew 23:33)

Likewise, religious leaders and their followers today who do everything to be seen by people and be approved of by people in their groups have no heart for God or other people. People who judge and condemn others do not have God’s Spirit. I actually saw a post recently that a professing Christian was praying that certain people they didn’t like would go to hell. Not as a flip statement. Actually praying that God would damn them. To those who think like this I would say, “What was Jesus’ example?” Jesus may not have made nice with the Pharisees and Jewish teachers, but he had the common decency to warn them about the consequences of their own willful actions. He also prayed for them.

We can choose to listen to God, or ignore him. If we ignore him, there will be negative consequences, not because God wants to see us suffer, but because we chose to do things our way. We bring it on ourselves. Anyone who has a teenager or has been a teenager can relate. Jesus wanted those religious leaders to believe in him as God’s provision for their salvation, to not rely on their own perception of themselves. They thought they were righteous, but they wanted to kill Jesus for speaking the truth. Think about that. They wanted to kill God’s most beautiful revelation of himself. Yet when Jesus hung on the cross, and those same people were ridiculing him and hurling insults at him, this was his heart: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).

Next time, leave a tip. Give people a reason to love Jesus. Next time, for the love of God, pray that all sorts of people will go to heaven, even if you don’t like their actions, don’t agree with them, or they hurt you. That’s what Jesus tells us to do. Next time, talk with a sinner. Eat with them. Jesus did. After all, you’re one, too. Not tipping someone because they identify with the gay community is not standing up for God. A tip doesn’t represent support for someone’s lifestyle. It is a gift given in thanks for good service received, not a reward for our morality. If that were the case, none of us should get tipped! And how can we know a person’s heart? God knows our hearts: our angry thoughts about others, our hatred for certain people, our lack of generosity, our insistence on our own way, our pride, our lack of a forgiving attitude…and more. Yet, he offers us forgiveness and eternal life if we first do one thing: believe in his son Jesus as our Savior. Gratis. Without cost. Complete and utter gift. After that simple act of trust, we become his spiritual children, and grow and mature just like our own children do.

Not tipping someone is a missed opportunity to share his mercy: “And as Jesus reclined at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13)

He called me. Now he’s calling you. And if you’re already a Christian, thank God for next times, the absolute grace of God that allows us to grow and learn like any child.

Photo Copyright:
nastenkapeka / 123RF Stock Photo