Isn't This What Church Is?

I just ran across something on the net. It's a coffee place in Kirkland, Washington. Wow, a coffee place close to Seattle, Pres you came up with a huge discovery. Curb the sacrasm shorty. There's something different about this little "coffee place".

Terra Bite Lounge is a "voluntary payment" cafe. That's right if you don't want to pay you don't have to. In fact on their website they make this statement "We also cheerfully serve those who cannot pay, in a non-stigmatizing customer setting, with no political or religious message, and with full-time availability."

The owner of Terra Bite says this about why they do voluntary payment "Terra Bite is not only an experiment into the level of public honesty, it is also a visible demonstration of that high level of honesty."

Interesting concept for a business. They don't make a killing, they just break even. But it's not because they can't turn a profit. It's because they choose to share the profit with the baristas. Wow.

I know this seemed to be a great social study on the level of honesty but this little business model has been employed by the church for centuries. That's why less than a third of the church tithes...because no one will know if they don't.

Cool way to prove a point though for Terra Bite.