Questions about Chick-fil-A Fan Fare

Now that the Chick-fil-A thing has had a chance to die down a little bit I thought I might reflect on some questions I have.  Maybe you can share some insight. (If you don’t know about the “chick-fil-a thing” stop reading now!)

Truth is, I couldn't resist… I tried.   For those of you who are just tired of reading about it, I totally understand.  So if you would rather read a blog that has pics of cute puppies or fluffy kittens that can get their whole body inside a toilet paper roll, be my guest.

For the rest of you who can’t look away from a wreck on the highway, here are a few questions from a fellow rubberneck.

1.      What were we thinking?

I mean that question literally.  When Christians responded the way we responded (whatever way that was) what was actually going on in our heads?

I like Dan Cathy.  I think that he is an honest person.  He hasn’t yet learned how to play politics.  I hope he doesn’t.  He doesn’t seem interested in giving interviews without actually saying something. 

So when he stated his views about traditional marriage I don’t think he was trying to be controversial.  I think he was just being honest.  I don’t know Cathy, but if I had to guess I would say that he probably wasn’t looking for the kind of public attention his comments received… from either side.  I’m guessing that the fan fare was not only unsolicited.  It was unwanted.   But I’m just guessing.

So when the Christian community turned out to patronize Chick-fil-A, I wonder what we were thinking.  Were we thinking, “We’ll support him!”  Or were we thinking, “We’ll show them.”  Seriously… honestly… what were we thinking?

I guess it's fine to show our support for a fellow Christian by giving him our patronage.  The gospel writers, however, seem to go to great lengths to describe Jesus as a bipartisan patron.  He ate at feasts hosted by the most prominent religious leaders.  He also ate and drank at the parties thrown by the most publically ridiculed sinners. 

I think motives are important. So I think followers of Jesus should not only ask, “What should we do?”  I think we also have to ask, “Why are we doing it?”

So what were we thinking… what were our motives?  Whatever our response, did it reflect the heart of Jesus?  Did it demonstrate his love?  Did it share his story?  Did it move people closer to him or push them further away?

In the middle of all of the hoopla around Chick-fil-A I heard about a man who was standing in line to buy his meal on “Chick-fil-A appreciation day.”  Of course there were also protestors there as well.  While waiting to be served the man yelled at the protestors, “Eat more chicken!”  So here’s my question, “What was he thinking?”

2.      Who do we think we are?

I mean that question literally too.  When we look in the mirror who or what do we see?  Here’s another way to ask the question.  Do we view the world in “us and them” categories? 

In my opinion, one thing that the biblical revelation makes really clear is that there is no “us and them.”  There is only us. 

This world is populated by broken people who, deep in our being, long for healing, redemption, restoration.  To put it another way, we are all sinners. To quote the apostle Paul, (who was, in part, quoting several Jewish poems/Psalms)

“What shall we conclude then?  Are we any better?  Not at all!  We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.  As it is written:  ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”  (Romans 3:9-12)  You gotta love Paul!    

So when we think about who we are as human beings what is our default way of viewing ourselves? Do we see one group of people who all struggle in our sin?  Or do we tend to divide people into categories of our own creation.

The truth is, if I understand the Bible correctly, we are all sinners.  I’m a sinner.  You’re a sinner (sorry to be the one to break it to you).  Your sin, whatever it is, is no worse than mine.  Mine is no worse than yours.  We are all people who all need God’s forgiveness and healing which is freely extended to all of us.

To be honest, I sometimes wonder if we miss the healing of God because we don’t really see ourselves as patients.  Who do we think we are?  

3.      What about next time?

Here’s what I mean by this question.  The next time the Christian community has the opportunity to make a very public statement about a very public controversy, what do we want to say?  What will we do next time?

What messages will our fellow sinner citizens get?  Will they be blown away by how gracious we are?  Will they be captivated by our warmth, our love, our kindness, our gentleness, our compassion?  Will they be uncomfortably drawn to Jesus Christ, so much so that they are compelled to start asking questions about him?  Will they be troubled by how humble followers of Jesus are?  Will we all have a God moment together?

I don’t know… I’m just asking.