The Rapture: Do we really leave the earth for heaven, or what?

In my last post, we looked at Matthew 24:40-41 which is often used to support the rapture but as we saw, those who will be caught up in the air are the evil, wicked ones, not the righteous believers. Now, what about 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which is often cited as Paul's description of the rapture. This passage has more to do with the message of hope for believers who have died, that they too will be resurrected from the dead.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 (ESV) 
¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Notice that Paul does not mention believers leaving, but rather says we are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. The word meeting here is apantesis which means going out to meet a newly arriving dignitary. This passage's emphasis is on Jesus' triumphant return, not our departure from the earth. Paul seems to be invoking Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the crowds went outside the city to welcome Him.

1 Thessalonians 4 deals with the coming of a king and in the Roman Empire there was a way a King was to be welcomed. According to scholars like N.T. Wright, if Caesar decided to visit a Roman city, He would take his imperial ship to the nearest bay and ride from the boat on his chariot surrounded by the Roman legions. He would journey to about a mile outside of the city and then he would command his chief soldier to shout the command to his trumpeteers to alert blow their trumpets to alert the city of the King’s presence. All of the city’s residents would then file out to meet the king and then escort him back into the city.

The Rapture: Who's Really Left Behind?

As a young Jesus freak, I worked alongside Larry Norman at the Hollywood Free Paper. While he was singing "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" to throngs of young believers, I was drawing cartoons for the HFP where I depicted Christians being caught up in the air with Jesus. Those days are long gone, and Larry Norman is now with Jesus.Years later over dinner in a Toronto restaurant, Larry remarked to everyone else at our table that "we survived the Jesus movement." By that, he meant that our faith remained INTACT. We did not fall away or lose faith in our Lord.  But where is our blessed hope today? Does it reside in a pre-trib rapture, or in His Second Coming?

Dale Yancy in radio studio 1973

In perhaps the best-known teaching about the end times and the inspiration for Larry Norman's song (I Wish We'd All Been Ready),  in Matthew 24:37-44, Jesus describes his second coming: "...two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." There is one key which unlocks our understanding of this passage and it is found in Matthew 24:37-39:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

Twice in this passage, Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be "as it was in the days of Noah" (v. 37) and again, in case we missed it in v. 39. Anytime Jesus repeats himself, it's worth cleaning out your ears to listen carefully to what he is saying. Jesus here is talking about two groups of people: One is righteous Noah and by implication, his family; they are saved and they are not caught by surprise. The other is the unrighteous, who are described in Genesis 6:5 as wicked with every intent of their heart set upon doing evil. This group was caught by surprise. It was their wickedness that prompted the flood which came upon them and took them all away. The key to understanding this passage is "taken away." Who was taken away? The evil and wicked. Who was left behind? Righteous Noah and his family. We are told twice that the Second Coming of Jesus will happen just like this: Two men will be in the field; One will be taken and one will be left behind. Who is taken up? The wicked man. Who is left behind? The righteous man. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left behind. Who is taken? The wicked woman. Who is left behind? The righteous woman. This is the rapture as described by Jesus in Matthew 24. The wicked are taken away with no chance to experience the triumphant reign of Jesus here on earth at his Second Coming. Question to all those who teach the pre-trib rapture: Haven't you thought it strange that according to your belief system, unrighteous are here on the earth to greet Jesus at his second coming? Doesn't that seem strange? Do they all of a sudden get religion, or get a pass, and get to sit at the banqueting table with Jesus upon His return? Whereas, the rapture that is described in Matt. 24 removes the wicked from the earth prior to Christ's return.

In Luke 17:26-36, we have a different version of this teaching where Jesus twice speaks of two persons, only one of whom will be taken. Here Jesus refers not only to the flood but also to the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom. In the story of Lot, the righteous are taken away from Sodom while only the ones left behind are destroyed. The important differences between Noah and Lot resides in the last day judgment referenced to in Matthew 24 in the account of Noah is a judgment on the whole earth. The Lot story is not about global judgment but only the judgment of two cities.

In my next post, I will finish this teaching with a look at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and how it is used as a proof text for the rapture. Does it really teach the disappearance of all the saints?

In closing, I have started reading a book by John Piper, "God is the Gospel." The Good News is NOT the rapture; it's not even that God loves me or you. The Good News is God Himself. That you and I can know Him and be known by Him. Our pursuit and blessed hope should not be the rapture, but God Himself. Knowing the Father as revealed by His Son, Jesus. That we could say along with David in Psalm 73:26, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Or as Paul writes in Philippians 3:8 (ESV) 
^8"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

This is why we have been bought with a price. We have been called out of darkness into the light so that we might have a relationship with the Lord God Almighty. He is the Good News. Knowing Him and having Him is enough. What else is there?

May 21: What if you threw a rapture and nobody disappeared? Oops!!

If you're reading this, then obviously, you weren't caught up in the rapture on May 21st. But then again, neither was anybody else. I feel bad for misguided saints like Robert Fitzpatrick who sunk $140,000 of his entire life savings into purchasing ads, placards on NYC buses and subways to warn New Yorkers of the end times. Another one of Harold Camping's followers, 27-yr old Adrienne Martinez told NPR that "knowing the date of the end of the world changes all your future plans." Instead of going to medical school, she and her husband, Joel, moved to Orlando , spending all their savings to pass out tracts to warn everyone of the
coming rapture on May 21st.


Harold Camping is an unrepentant, misguided false prophet. He now says that he got the date wrong and the rapture will happen on Oct. 21, 2011. But don't hold your breath, quit your job or empty your life savings. Camping has been wrong more than once. In 1992, he published a book declaring that the rapture would take place on Oct. 28, 1992.


Living in New Hampshire at the time,  telephone and light poles were plastered with posters announcing the rapture. Even today, almost 20 yrs. later, these posters are still in evidence, resisting New England winters. They are indestructible, a monument to Camping's folly and heretical teaching which continues to lead some saints astray and providing fodder for late night comedians. Harold Camping is really a self-deluded man, teaching heresy with no real understanding of the Good News that the Apostles proclaimed. They did not proclaim the rapture, but Jesus who is risen from the dead and is the "way, the truth and the life."

Around 1969, I sat with about 100+ college students in a Christian frat house at UCLA listening to Hal Lindsey teach his pop version of the rapture which would appear a year of so later in book form, "The Late Great Planet Earth." It would become a mega-bestseller. I bought into the rapture, hook, line and sinker. I was brainwashed by Hal Lindsey and Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel). I remember trying to talk a friend out of going to medical school at the Univ. of Vermont. I told him that the rapture would come before he even finished his studies, and he would've wasted all that time studying when he could've been telling people about Jesus and preparing them for the rapture. Good thing he didn't listen to me. He's a cardiologist today at a teaching hospital and if he had given up his medical career, I would be carrying a load of guilt to this day!


In my '67 VW bug, I had a bumper sticker on my dash which read, "In case of rapture, this car is unmanned." I thought I was so cool and that I was warning my friends and preparing them for the coming disappearance of all the saints. But then, something happened....like the Prodigal Son who had an epiphany and came to himself while eating pig slop, I too had an awakening while eating and buying all this nonsense. God woke me up. He began to show me the foolishness and bad fruit of the rapture teaching. I saw young couples rushing to get married before the rapture. I saw others running up credit cards and not bothering to pay bills because none of this mattered if we were going to be raptured sometime in the next few months. Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa personally taught that Jesus would come back before 1974, and thousands of us as young believers were caught up in trying to warn our friends, family and strangers that there would be a great disappearance of the saints, and then the end would come.

I began to see that the rapture fit our drug-induced escapist culture. We didn't want to endure pain or suffering. We had sworn off drugs, so now we had adopted a new drug, the rapture, which will deliver us from this evil, wicked world and all our problems. It was easier to be caught up in the air than to live here on earth, holding down a job, paying bills, taking care of our families, enduring the sinful behavior of others as well as facing the hypocrisy of our own sinful behavior and unbelief. So much easier to fly away with Jesus than to allow Him to purify us through trials and suffering, refining us as pure gold.

Everywhere I looked, the only saw bad fruit coming from the teaching of the rapture. We were not being told to persevere and endure for His name's sake. We were the generation that wanted instant gratification. We wanted Christian perfection and we wanted it now--none of this suffering for Jesus and being conformed into His image by trials and persecution. We wanted to leave all behind and just go be with Jesus which was much easier than walking with Jesus daily, trusting Him to help us to endure our daily afflictions, trials, sinful temptations and sinful behavior.

What about you? Are awaiting the rapture? Do you believe that Jesus can come at any moment, even today? Do you think I've become a Christian cynic? In my next post, I will let you in on my current understanding of the rapture from scripture. I still believe in the rapture, but not as it's taught by Tim LaHaye (Left Behind series). BTW, if I'm ever visiting you, please do me a favor and hide your "Left Behind" series of books. Don't proudly display them as evidence of your Christian spirituality. They won't win you any brownie points with me or with God. They are a poorly written Christian fiction and bad theology--a waste of your time, but certainly not for Tim LaHaye who has become a multi-millionaire writing these books that are held in esteem by some believers almost next to the Bible. In fact, if I have already offended you, then you are taking the Left Behind series TOO seriously. It's FICTION! We spend time reading this poorly written foolishness and feel like we're getting closer to Jesus. We really are dumb sheep and that's why we need a Savior to save us from ourselves, our sins, our stupid ways, from the Left Behind series and The Late Great Planet Earth! I'll continue this in my next post.....stay tuned.

Love Wins: Why Bad Theology Can Take You to Hell Whether You Believe It Or Not.

Your theology is very important. Theology is what you know and believe about God. Your theology can take you closer to God, or farther away. Your theology can lead you to trust in a man who sets a day and time for the rapture, wherein you sell everything in anticipation of this great event, only to be left dazed, confused and penniless because of "bad" theology (more on this in a future post).

Rob Bell's new book, "Love Wins" is a theological work. IMHO, it's not very well thought out or reasoned, but it is his theological take on God, Heaven and Hell, who gets in and who doesn't. 

Rob Bell has lit up the blogosphere and the media with speculation on whether-or-not he's making a case of universalism which basically is the belief that everyone will be saved in the end, and no one goes to hell. Sadly, I must conclude that from my understanding of what Rob Bell is trying to say, he believes in universalism. For him, hell is something of our own making. It's God letting you have what you want. In Bell's theology, if you get it wrong in this life, you get a second chance after you die. 

Here's what is missing from Rob Bell's reasoning and exegesis of scripture. At no time does he attempt to deal with God's covenants or election or justice. He also doesn't deal with baptism, which is a spiritual reality of our old man being buried in Christ and raised to newness of life in Him. What about God's calling Abraham to make from him a nation, a people of his own possession. Why would Peter bother to write, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9)? As Rob Bell sees it, the entire world is a chosen race.

"Love Wins" is built upon the foundation of one verse, 1 Timothy 2:4, "(God) who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This is simplistic reasoning wherein the author takes one verse to build his theology--always a bad move and will usually result in erroneous conclusions as it does here because Bell insists that God gets what He wants, therefore all people will be saved.

To be fair, I can't begin to adequately review Rob Bell's book in one posting, and others on the net have done a much more thorough, reasoned, thoughtful response to ":Love Wins." I recommend you read Kevin DeYoung's review (The Gospel Coalition) . Also J.R. Woodward (Dream Awakener).

To be fair, Rob Bell does make a good case for some of the failure of modern evangelicalism where we have sought to get people saved with the Four Spiritual Laws, giving them fire insurance rather than making disciples who do the works of Jesus and follow Him daily. How many have been given a false assurance of salvation from man based on that fact that they prayed a simple prayer or came forward to the altar, when Romans 8:16 says that "The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." We don't need to give men assurance of their salvation--that is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Rob Ball asks tough questions concerning the eternal well-being of those who have been put off by a hollow imitation of Christ that is presented in some churches today, and where there is very little if any "good news" from the pulpit. "Love Wins" does ask some difficult questions for which we don't have all the answers. What about grown men who will not darken the door of a church because they were molested by a Catholic priest when they were young altar boys? Mark 9:42 (NLT) ⁴² “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck." But the question remains, what about these little ones who have been caused to stumble and fall into sin? What happens to their eternal destiny? No easy answers. 

Whereas a Baptist preacher might harp on pet sins of drinking, smoking, homosexuality--for Bell, the big vices are war, rape, greed, injustice, violence, pride, division, exploitation, etc. He also writes that in heaven God will say “no” to oil spills, sexual assault on women, political leaders silencing by oppression, and people being stepped on by greedy institutions and corporations. Obviously, I already know how Bell voted for in the last election and how he will vote in 2012. Don't expect Bell to get behind drilling for oil in Anwar or the Gulf anytime soon. These are the sins that are obvious to everyone in our culture especially those who are political progressives. But what about the evil that dwells in all of our hearts and for which Jesus became our sin-bearer, to cleanse us and make us holy. In the end, Bell seems to have lost sight of God's Love story which is His pursuit from Genesis to Revelation for a people who will be his own possession, who will be set apart and made holy and righteous unto Him.

Rob Bell is a postmodern pastor-teacher and his postmodern theology has its own pitfalls and shortcomings. There's the desire to be on the "cutting edge" throwing off the restraints of all that has come before and  rewrite what it means to be a Christian. In many cases, these post-modern believers are doing nothing more than dressing up classical liberalism, and attempting to see how far they can push the envelope of "grace" before it becomes "license." That's why it's important to study the entire Word of God, all of it, and learn how to practical good hermeneutics (rightly diving the Word of God, properly interpreting Scripture). In "Love Wins", Bell practices sloppy, poor hermeneutics and arrives at faulty conclusions.

Love Wins is more about our culture today which is based on inclusion and fairness. Justice and judgment are forbidden or considered "heavy-handed" and unloving. Love Wins is more about moral relativism than about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Love Wins makes God smaller, rather than greater. He becomes more of a God of our own making, someone who will make the cover of Time Magazine as "God of the Year." He's the God that Muslims, Buddhists, even atheists can love because He is non-judgmental and everyone gets a "pass." He's the God who lets us have it our way, and then still gives us a second chance after we die. 

I still believe that Rob Bell is a brother in Christ. I think he is misguided, and is certainly in danger of leading many astray. However, he is probably no more misguided than other pastor-teachers who are on TV & radio everyday, and in some cases espousing a "gospel" message that pales in comparison to the real thing. The only difference is that for this moment in time, Rob Bell has a bigger platform with a far greater influence, especially over young believers (both in age as well as spiritual growth). I will pray for Rob Bell, that the eyes of his spiritual understanding would be opened. I don't believe we need to dismiss him as a heretic, but I certainly would be careful as to who I'd recommend read "Love Wins," and I would not recommend that you visit his church if you're looking for a church home in the Grand Rapids area.

Bad theology can hurt you and lead you astray. Bad theology can even take you to Hell, whether you believe in its existence or not.

If you have read "Love Wins", what do you think? Let me know. Post your comments. Next time, continuing this theme on bad theology, I'll be ranting about the rapture and why it fits our 21st century culture. I grew up at the feet of Hal Lindsey teaching at UCLA on Wednesday nights at a frat house. Hal Lindsey wrote the book, "The Late, Great Planet Earth." There was no one more primed and brainwashed about the rapture than myself. But along the way, my eyes were opened. I had a "Great Awakening". I'll talk about this and give some spiritual insight into this doctrine from Scripture as to who is really going to be "raptured." Stay tuned.

The poor excuses we often make to keep from being generous.

Continuing the theme of Christian Tightwads regarding tipping in restaurants, on the whole, Christians are thought of by restaurant workers to be among the absolute worst tippers of any single identifiable group. Sundays after church, Christians go out in large numbers, perhaps unaware of how poorly they are representing the gospel to a very specific and largely “un-reached” and hurting people group, their servers. This post is an attempt to inform my brothers and sisters about the horrendous damage we do to the Gospel on a regular basis.

I want to list a few of the excuses that church folk give for not tipping generously. And, at the outset, let’s get this on the table: Many restaurant servers across the U.S. are paid an hourly wage of $2.13/hr which is why a standard tip of 15-20% is expected and necessary.

Now, on to some of the excuses that we Christian saints use to keep from giving a generous tip: 

1) I don’t tip at all if I get bad service. A tip ought to be earned and deserved. If they do a really good job, then I’ll give them 10%.

Answer: Bad service is in the eye of the beholder. For some, bad service is not getting your Coke refilled before you have to ask for it. Maybe you asked your server for fifteen different things and they only had time to bring you ten. You should be happy with the ten. Besides, if you do get bad service, maybe your server was having a bad day. Have you thought to ask them how their day is going, or offer to pray for them? If you think it is deserved, give them some feedback on the receipt, but don’t cut their pay. The Jesus that I know and serve is more concerned with forgiveness and reconciliation, new life, a fresh start, than with condemnation, punishment and retribution.

Tipping only for good performance is a works-based mentality and has nothing to do with the gospel. Paul writes to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:18 (NLT) 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. When we eat out, we need to be generous with our tips, because it glorifies God and it will bless rather than offend the one who is serving us.

2. After giving tithes and offerings at church, there’s not much left over for the tip.

Answer: If you don’t have enough left over to tip the standard 15-20%, then you probably shouldn’t be eating out. Maybe you should just go to McDonald’s where you won’t be expected to tip.



3. Here’s a good one which was given to a waitress at a Chili’s restaurant by a group of 6 church-goers who came in to be served after the Sunday evening service. As the waitress was taking their drink order, one of them said: “We want to tell you up front that we will not be tipping you tonight because we don’t believe in people working on Sunday.” The waitress, in shock mumbled, “Well I wouldn’t have to work on Sundays if so many church people like you didn’t come here to eat.” The manager of the restaurant overheard the customer’s remark and said, “We don’t believe in making our people work for nothing, so I will be serving you tonight.” 

Answer: Are you serious? Do I even need to dignify this Pharisaical-behavior with a response? This person has a bigger problem than she even realizes. She may not be as close to Jesus or to heaven as she thinks. It's sheer hypocrisy. So it's okay for you to go out to a restaurant and gorge yourself on Sunday, but it's not okay for the waiters and waitresses who have to be there to serve you? This kind of behavior is a stumbling block to an unbelieving world and keeps many from ever coming to Jesus. 1 Cor. 10:32-33, 32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.

4. I’m paying for the food. Thank your lucky stars that you even have a job. I don’t have to tip you. You’re already getting paid to do your job.

Answer: It would be nice if waiters and waitresses were paid a decent salary starting at $10-12. per hour, but it is what it is. They can’t exist on $2.13 an hour (that’s before taxes!). That’s why tips are considered part of their salary. Think of a working mother trying to put food on the table for her child and you’re “stiffing” her and refusing to tip her because you think she’s getting enough money? Are you serious?

5. We’ve adopted a frugal lifestyle. We’ve cut up our credit cards, we’ve drawn up a budget and we trying to pay down our debt, so we’ve had to cut down on our spending and that includes tipping.

Answer: Are you for real? Are you really going to use “Dave Ramsey” and getting out of debt as an excuse for why you can’t tip generously? If you’re really cutting down on your spending and you are now trying to live within your budget, then stop going out to restaurants. Stay home! Or go to McDonalds or Taco Bell. But don’t go to a full-service restaurant where a gratuity is expected.

6. They messed up our order and “comped” our meal so we didn’t feel like we needed to tip the server.

Answer: In all likelihood it wasn’t the server’s fault that your order was messed up, but even if it were, where is the grace and mercy? Where is the attitude of forgiveness? If the manager was nice enough to have “comped” your meal, instead of looking at this as a “freebie”, you should’ve thought, “Wow, thanks Lord, I now have even more money with which to leave a generous 20+% tip for my server.

Here’s your opportunity to be a kingdom believer, one who flies in the face of the norm--one who wants to live in such a way that unbelievers offer up praise to God for your life and witness. Jesus said in Matt. 5:16, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” To paraphrase that, “Let your generous tipping and kind behavior be such that restaurant employees look forward to your appearance and fight over who gets to serve you, and say to themselves, “If this is what it means to be a Christian, I just might be interested in knowing more…”

What do you think?

Are you a Christian "Tightwad"?

Be forewarned: This post is a rant. This is my rant against Christians who are tightwads--too cheap to tip their servers in restaurants; Christians who leave tracts instead of a tip in their vain, hollow attempts at holiness and evangelism.

As a struggling college student, I remember working as a busboy and waiter, and receiving what looked like a dollar bill but really was a tract which inside read: “Here’s a tip"...and proceeded to give a distillation of the Gospel. Guess where those tracts ended up? In the restaurant garbage disposal. I don’t know of a single server who ever came to Jesus because of one of those stupid tracts. By the way, because of inflation, there is now a $20. bill tract which you can leave and gives you the comfort of knowing you’re not cheap because at least it’s the thought that counts, even if it’s just a printed tract.


Going back 40 yrs., I remember that nobody wanted to work on Sundays. My co-workers despised the Sunday church crowd. At first, I tried to make excuses for the boorish behavior of the Christian crowd that packed into our restaurant on Sunday. But then I began to realize that these people were actually a stumbling block to my fellow workers. They saw nothing attractive in the lives or behavior of these religious folks dressed in their Sunday best. In fact, they dreaded the sight of the church rush that would descend on us at about 12:15 pm, after the last hymn and the benediction. Why is that?

I have a daughter who has worked as a server in San Diego, Nashua, NH, and Paducah, KY. She will attest to the fact that Paducah ranks dead last in terms of tipping, and has the some of the most boorish, demanding and downright mean-spirited church folks on Sundays. A party of 15 come in and expect you to put 4 tables together for them quickly because they are starved! And they tell you to speed it up because they have to be on their way in a hour. Then they ask you to put the orders on 4 separate checks. You attend to their every need, including refills and boxing up several “to go” leftovers. When the separate checks are added together, the total comes to $224.78. Your gratuity comes to $11.22. One lady in the group says to you as they get up to leave, “That was the best service. I pray that you have a blessed day.” My thought would be, “Lady, if you want me to have a blessed day, why not start with a generous tip in appreciation for the excellent service I just gave you!”

I'll continue this “rant” tomorrow in part 2 on restaurant tipping, examining some of our excuses we make for our stingy, less-than-Christian behavior.
But let me close with this. I believe this nation needs a revival. We need another Great Awakening. I believe we need to have God’s Spirit fall upon us as a people and change our hearts and our behavior, and it needs to begin with those who call themselves Christians. I will believe that revival has hit America not when churches are packed out, not when thousands are getting saved and filled with the spirit—I will believe that a Spirit-led revival has swept this nation when restaurant servers want to work on Sundays because the Christians who show up are the nicest, most caring, most generous customers that any server could ever have. That’s what I’m praying for.

What about you? Are you a generous tipper? Do you think Christians leave a “good witness” at most restaurants on Sunday? Do you have any personal stories to share? Or maybe you think I’m making too much of this and need to be more gracious towards the Sunday church crowd. What are your thoughts?