Tag: Outrage

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The Bigger Problem with Chick-Fil-A

On Wednesday, I wrote the post, Oh, Chick-fil-A: The Outrage. So far, it has reached over 101,000 people, and it keeps going. That’s crazy! My intention was to share my thoughts with my small social media world. I had no idea it was going to travel as far as it did. Reading the feedback from some people in the comments section, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, I have seen the light! I now see the bigger problem with the Chick-fil-A controversy.

Today, I’m going to jump on the outrage train. I’m going to assume,
Chick-fil-A caved after 7-years of attacks from the LGBTQ+ community and their liberal political allies. It’s a shame, isn’t it?

Chick-fil-A, the last American, Christian hope against liberal bullies, trying to force Christians to accept their homosexual worldview. I am disappointed, almost to the point of tears, angry tears, that they failed me and Christians all over America. And, really all over the world, like in England, where they are being shutdown, after only 6-months because of these bullies.

So, my fellow disappointed, angry, and outraged Christian brothers and sisters, what should we do from here? How should we respond to their caving betrayal of our Christian principles?

I am brand new to this. After all, you know it was just on Wednesday that I told the world that I was not jumping on the outrage train, and look at me, just like Chick-fil-A, I CAVED! So, will you help the new kid on the train out a little bit? It appears, we’re looking at Chick-Fil-A as a person, a fellow flesh and blood Christian.

So, what do we do? Help me out!

  • Do we look to the Bible to pave the way for our response?
    • I guess, we can look to Jesus, since He’s in the Bible. Is that okay?
  • Do we skip the Bible and just react with sheer emotion? After all, Chick-fil-A has wronged us personally!!!
  • What does this look like in the real world? Do we go to every comment section, Facebook post, news site, and make our voices heard? I got that impression from one of my own commenters, they said they were speaking out to let the company leaders know they are disappointed and not happy. One of my Facebook connections posted an article and then personally relished that it was “all going bad for Chick-fil-A!”
    Hooray! My brothers and sisters. Let us rejoice that they are going to reap what they sowed (that’s from the Bible!) for betraying our Christian values and for caving. As others have said, “Now God will stop blessing them!”

Look at us Christians, standing so firm and yelling so loud at what we’re assuming is essentially a brother or sister in Christ falling and giving into the world’s ways. You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking this will show “the world” — those liberals and LGBTQ+ advocates — that we don’t play. Our beloved Chick-fil-A caved, but WE WILL NOT! Well, I caved, but with your help, WE will not! If you want to be a part of Christianity, and you don’t act right and perform to our Christian standards, you have to go! There’s no room in Christianity for that kind of behavior. There’s no room in our faith for the weak spined, cavers.

THE BIGGER PROBLEM WITH CHICK-FIL-A
See, this is the bigger problem with the Chick-fil-A controversy. We’re so concerned with being right and for protecting a set of values, that we forget what we’re supposed to be about. We forget there’s a world looking in at what Christians and Christianity is all about. So far, what they have seen is (some) Christians who may profess the gospel, but their attitudes and their behavior is void of it. The biggest problem in the Chick-fil-a controversy is how Christians are acting toward a perceived wrong.

Here’s what the world sees: “If they will treat Chick-fil-A that way, how would they treat me?” “If Chick-fil-A did this one thing wrong, what if I get it wrong, is this what I can expect from the church?” And, they’ll just pass on God, Christianity, and the church.

You may dismiss me, but it’s true. Jesus told us this in John 13:34-35 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” If it’s by our love that everyone (including the world) will know that we are His disciples, it is by our lack of love toward one another that we disconnect ourselves from belonging to Christ.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH CHICK-FIL-A?
If we’re treating Chick-fil-A like a fellow brother and sister in Christ, would Jesus go and publicly blast them for their wrong doing? Would he utilize social media to express his disgust at their sin? Or, to rally the family of God to boycott them? Would he send them hateful and unkind messages?

“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private….”

Matthew 18:15

It’s not an accident that Jesus also told us in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.” Christians are not hidden from the world around us, both for the good & the bad. Whether in unity or in disunity. In agreement and in disagreement. When we choose to express our disputes in the public eye and when we choose to express our disagreements or when we act as if we are relishing in the potential downfall of another, the world sees that and will make a decision about Jesus, based on our behavior. Jesus told us to go to one another in private.

So, let’s assume, Chick-fil-A caved and made a grave mistake. If this was a man or woman in your church, how would you handle it? How would you approach their failure? Maybe they relapsed into an addiction. Maybe they took their eyes off of Jesus and entered into an inappropriate relationship. Maybe they have become ensnared with pornography. You find out on a Sunday morning at church. What will you do? Will you go home and blast them on the internet? Will you go and tell the world how disappointed you are in them? Is that the instructions that scripture gives us?

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.” 

Galatians 6:1

Christians, if you feel Chick-fil-A is wrong, where is your gentle spirit? Where is a genuine, PRIVATE attempt to make your disappointment and disagreement known, and then to seek restoration? What I see, sadly is the last part of verse 1 ignored: “watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.” Paul doesn’t say you will be tempted with the same sin, as the fallen. It could be, but you may fall into other temptation. Maybe a temptation to be controlled by your emotions, or to become self righteous, or to cast judgement, or to act in a way that is void of love.

Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else.

Galatians 6:2-4

Instead of publicly opposing our brothers and sisters and instead of publicly expressing our disapproval and disagreements with them, what if we went to them privately? What if we asked how we can help them with their burden & the temptation to cave? Paul said YOU need to examine your own work. I need to examine my own work. We need to look in the mirror and be less concerned with Chick-fil-A, and more concerned with what we’re doing, or not doing. Does your life fully align with scripture to the place you can correct Chick-fil-A? Are you really in a place where you can say, “I can’t believe they caved!” Could Jesus say that about you? We should all be careful we don’t see ourselves as being better than Chick-fil-A, because we haven’t sinned as they have sinned (in our own mind).

LET’S BE HONEST
If we’re honest, here’s the problem. We often lack a true understanding of the gospel. If we don’t truly know the gospel, we can’t truly practice it. If the gospel isn’t inside of us, it won’t come out of us.

When we lack an understanding of the gospel and when we don’t live it out, we expect people to perform according to our standards. It comes from a works based theology. You have to perform a certain way to be accepted. You have to fulfill specific expectations to receive approval. This is NOT the gospel!

The gospel is that Jesus performed all that God required on our behalf so we can be accepted and saved. Jesus fulfilled God’s expectations so we could receive His approval. Jesus did everything for us, so we didn’t have to. We could never fulfill God’s requirements, no matter how hard we tried. A works based theology, disapproves of people when they don’t perform correctly. It rejects people because of their failures. The gospel teaches us that we are free to fail because Jesus succeeded on our behalf [tchividjian]. God doesn’t reject us when we get it wrong, he doesn’t relish in our demise because we made an unwise decision. God doesn’t toss us aside and declare He is finished with us when we sin against Him.

So, why would we, Christians do the same to Chick-fil-A? Some Christians are saying they “will NEVER eat there again, they are through with them!” After one decision. Really? Is that of Christ? Is that the gospel? Is sending local Chick-fil-A operators hateful and unkind messages, bringing stress and exhaustion to their family, of Christ? No, it’s not. It’s a works based theology, it’s not the gospel.

I am left to wonder if this is the experience people are having in our churches? Is Chick-fil-A just a public picture of the way fallen people are being handled within the walls of the church?

“…if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”

Matthew 5:41

How can you go the second mile for Chick-fil-A, right in the midst of your disagreement with them? How can you go the second mile to love and extend support to the local operators who are under attack from our own family? What if we allowed Christ and His gospel to drive us to do something different than the world? Different than the protesters and the advocates? Sure, privately e-mail and call the corporate offices, to express your disagreement and disappointment with them, if you feel they are wrong. But, what can you do to show the love of Christ in the midst of Chick-fil-A’s perceived wrong doing? How can you love those who are under attack, and are innocent of the decisions made by the corporate office? How can we be the light on a shining hill, showing the world that we, and the believers at Chick-fil-A, are truly Jesus’ disciples? That despite a difference, we will still live out the gospel and extend grace, forgiveness, and patience to them, even if we feel they don’t deserve it. After all, that’s what Jesus does for us. That’s how he first loved us.

May the true gospel guide our attitudes and our actions.

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Oh, Chick-Fil-A: The Outrage

I know people will disagree with me. I kind of count on it, especially after seeing the highly emotional, opinionated Facebook posts over the last 24 hours. Many of those posts have been by people I greatly respect. Don’t worry though, it won’t be the first time someone has disagreed with me. The good news is, I still respect those who I disagree with. Maybe they’ll return the favor!

I’m not jumping on the Outrage Train against Chick-Fil-A. I know, I know, I should, after all, they CAVED to the cultural pressures and the protestors that have hounded them for over 7-years, after the founder’s son, and company COO, Dan Cathy, made public comments supporting traditional, Biblically defined marriage. But, did they cave, really? If they caved, why did they wait 7-years to do so? Why not cave immediately, in the hottest part of the controversy? Why not cave two-or-three years after the protests began, especially once it was well known that the hate wasn’t going to stop?

Or, could Chick-Fil-A be telling the truth, when they claim that they are simply refocusing their charitable giving to three specific areas? And their support for the Salvation Army and FCA was not cancelled, but instead their long-term contracts had expired and they chose not to renew with those two specific organizations? Their tax statements show they had already given north of one million dollars to FCA and nearly $200,000 to the Salvation Army. But, I know what you’re thinking! “You mean, you want me to trust and give the benefit of the doubt to THE company that is known for being founded on Christian principles?” “The company that has weathered the protests and the hate for 7+ years?” “The company that still closes on Sunday (worldwide), even at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta, despite the huge financial loss to the company?” “What has Chick-Fil-A ever done that would lead us to do that?” Either character and reputation matter, or they don’t. Based on social media posts in the past 24-hours, I’m beginning to believe it is a lost value in our world.

EMOTIONS RULE THE DAY| HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS
It’s interesting that my fellow conservative and Christian friends who have spent the last two years relabeling the news media as the, “lame stream media” and “fake news” would immediately jump to conclusions based on news headlines and media narratives. The same media organizations that have been accused of posting dishonest news about President Trump, Brett Kavanaugh, and other conservatives are going to determine the narrative for you when it comes to Chick-Fil-A?

Some of my friends and acquaintances are simultaneously posting articles and videos about the presidential impeachment hearings, saying everything is hearsay, lies, and made up reports, all the while parroting the same media when it comes to Chick-Fil-A. We want the facts to speak for the impeachment hearing, so why not for Chick-Fil-A?

Here are the facts, that we know:

  • No one from Chick-Fil-A has said they are pulling support from groups that support traditional marriage, and/or are anti-LGBTQ+
  • The media and opinion “journalist” from both liberal and conservative leaning media have created the narrative that they have pulled their support for groups that are anti-LGBTQ+ Those media groups wrote the narrative for you.
  • MOST of you had no idea these were two of the charity groups that Chick-Fil-A supported, until the news media told you, yesterday.
  • Chick-Fil-A has not said that it will not support other groups, in the future that support traditional marriage or that the media labels as anti-LGBTQ+
  • The media has wrongly labeled The Salvation Army as anti-LGBTQ+ and according to their own statement, they reject this label as well, offering services to anyone and everyone. This is 100% true. I worked there and had gay men participate in our CSRC Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program. When I left, the shelter was creating ways to ensure transgender clients had safe sheltering within their emergency shelter. We served clients with HIV/AIDS, without discrimination. Individuals from all walks of life and all identifications were served through the Salvation Army’s programs. The media nor the Salvation Army can factually claim that’s the reason Chick-Fil-A reallocated their charitable funds.
  • All outrage is based solely on speculation about Chick-Fil-A’s motives versus verifiable facts.

DECEIVE, DIVIDE, AND CONQUER
We know that Satan’s first attack on God’s people was deception. He’s the master of twisting the truth into a lie. Do you know for a fact that the whole narrative against Chick-Fil-A was not an opportunistic attempt to finally cut the company down to its knees? Are you sure that as soon as the report was released about Chick-Fil-A’s changes in their charitable giving goals that the company’s enemies didn’t take the opportunity to divide their customer base against them?

It is plausible, based on the history of some media, and other advocates, that the report was released about Chick-Fil-A not renewing an expired contract with the Salvation Army and FCA, and the narrative was created that they were cutting ties with anti-LGBTQ+ groups. As the old saying goes, if you can’t beat them (with protests and boycotts), turn their supporters against them. Once again, Chick-Fil-A never gave this narrative as their reason for making changes to their support. They didn’t imply those reasons, or announce changes in their company values. So, who told you that? Some media organizations. Opinion journalists. And guess what, you bought it! You didn’t practice being quick to listen and slow to anger. You didn’t pause and wait to hear from the company that has earned the benefit of the doubt. You didn’t hold back your outrage until you read an official statement from the company that has a strong character. You based your opinion on what someone told you to believe about a reputable company. Is that the same methods you would want others to take when your character and motives come into question?

To date, nothing has worked to hurt Chick-Fil-A from the outrage mob…not this outrage mob, but the other one. So, why not divide and conquer? If that was their goal, they can consider themselves successful.

It’s the same attack I have heard conservatives claim the media uses against President Trump. If they can’t beat him, separate his supporters from him. Some of the same people who have made this claim and stand with iron clad support of President Trump, no matter what he does, now do the very opposite with Chick-Fil-A. Whose character should be questioned? Chick-Fil-A’s or theirs? Or, maybe yours?

SACRED COWS
What my fellow Christians and conservatives are saying is: Because the LGBTQ+ advocates don’t like specific organizations, and Chick-Fil-A has supported those organizations in the past, they are obligated to forever support those organizations, or they have caved to social and cultural pressures. Even though they supported them for several years, in total of over one million dollars.

At what point is Chick-Fil-A, a private owned company, allowed to refocus or reallocate their charitable donations, and not be considered caving? What’s your approved timeframe? Are they required to support those specific organizations indefinitely? I love when my freedom loving American citizens will question people trying to trample on their rights by asking, “Who are you to tell me how many and what kind of guns I can own?” “Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot say?” I love it! Well, who are you to say what charitable organizations Chick-Fil-A has to indefinitely support?

Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this mindset is coming from a lot of Christians. After all, it’s this very mindset that has many churches on the brink of death: “We’ve always done it that way!” “We’ve always had this program!” The minute a pastor or church leader sacrifices a sacred cow for the sake of church health or greater effectiveness in spiritual growth, they are accused of compromising and all sorts of other false motives.

  • I remember having to suspend a missions project where our church provided meals for under resourced children in our local area, through the public school system. It was a good program, but the ever increasing funds that it cost us to participate in that program handcuffed us from doing other important projects that directly affected the health of our church. Our motives of not caring for poor and hungry children were questioned at that time.
  • Churches do this all the time, however. A new church plant will seek support from other churches to help get them started. A church, like our own, may support that new ministry for one, two, or even three years. After that allotted amount of time, the support ends, and the funds are reallocated to other missions or ministry projects. It doesn’t mean the church doesn’t care about church planting anymore, but instead it means there are other projects and ministries that the church wants to be a part of. Or, there is a new focus they want to give their attention to.

LET’S BE REAL
As a former employee of the Salvation Army, it’s good to finally see some passion for the organization. I remember when the employees would work the Red Kettles, during the Christmas season. It was quite sad how many people would walk by the ringing bells and the red buckets, with no thought or intention of contributing their own money to the organization they are now so concerned about. Maybe this will inspire more participation?

  • How much have you given to the Salvation Army over the past 5-7 years? A quarter here and there in the red buckets? A dollar or two, if added up?
  • What has your personal contribution been to the success of the FCA? Feel free to Google the organization, I’ll wait here, until you get back.
  • The reality is, even Christians, the one’s yelling the loudest in outrage against Chick-Fil-A, are some of the biggest hypocrites when it comes to giving and generosity.
    • For those who come from a faith tradition that teaches and believes in tithing, only 10-25% of Christians (who claim to believe in it) actually tithe.
    • Religious giving, among “Christians” is down 50% since 1990.
    • On average, Christians give 2.5% of their income to their local church. Christians gave an average of 3.3% during the Great Depression (for comparison sake).
  • Maybe we (Christians) should get our own hearts and charitable giving in line with scripture, before we tell a company what to do with theirs, or before we cast unfounded judgement on what has been one of the most charitable organizations and restaurants around.

It’s just like the people who want to tell the church how to spend money, but they never give any, or if they do, it’s less than the tip they leave a restaurant waiter, at a low-end diner. People love to yell when they don’t like what the church is doing, but they don’t participate in supporting the vision and the ministry. Now, someone creates a narrative about Chick-Fil-A, and suddenly everyone is the Salvation Army and FCA’s biggest fans. But, let’s be honest: Would your own personal giving and generosity towards those organizations reveal that you’re truly a fan, or are you just looking for something to be outraged about? Are you helping the opposition finally get their way with Chick-Fil-A?

Maybe, I’m wrong and you are right. I guess like many say with Kanye’s salvation, time will tell. I truly believe Kanye is saved and he’s showing it. In the same way, I truly believe many have bought into a false narrative about Chick-Fil-A and have tarnished the company’s character, with no facts. If they’re right, I’ll be the first to confess I was wrong. I wonder if all of the outraged former fans of Chick-Fil-A will do the same, if time proves them wrong?