The Million Chicken
Sandwich March
Over the past few days thousands of people gathered around
the nearest Chik-Fil-A with money in hand to support a multi-million dollar
franchise in the name of something.
Some did it in the name of freedom of speech. Some did it in the name of Christianity. Others did it to show their political
stance regarding homosexual marriage.
On the other hand hundreds if not thousands are in the midst of a
boycott of Chik-Fil-A. The reason
being the company’s president Dan Cathy doesn’t believe in homosexual marriage.
He expressed his opposition to the widely debated topic in
an interview, answering a direct question. The reaction of several celebrities including Roseanne Barr
who hasn’t been a celebrity since H.W. Bush was in office, were not nice.
Many persons in the public eye who believe it is their
responsibility to direct a populace, called for a boycott of the fast food
franchise. The result hasn’t been
what many expected. Instead of
crippling sales, Chik-Fil-A is on its way to record numbers. Is this a victory for freedom of
speech? Perhaps, the only problem
seems to be that the most vocal folks supporting the franchise aren’t doing it
for freedom of speech. They are
doing it as an act of pushing the anti-gay marriage statement and those who
place their own feet in front of Christ’s yet call themselves Christians are
stating their patronage at Chik-Fil-A was done in the name of Christ?
Apparently at some point over the past few weeks Jesus came
to these people and commanded their hard earned dollars to be turned over to a
company, which sells over priced bland chicken sandwiches. A thin piece of lightly seasoned
chicken on a cheap bun with three pickle slices for around four bucks seems a
small price to pay for heavenly righteousness. Many are citing the Chik-Fil-A doctrine of not being opened
on Sundays to honor the Sabbath.
The last time I was at Chik-Fil-A was a Saturday, the Sabbath, and they
were open. I think it is a
reflection of our lack of faith that we as Christians choose the most boring
day of the week to lend to Christ while the most exciting day, the one with the
highest amount of commerce is our fun day. Don’t get me wrong I am not a Seven Day Adventist. I do not believe we are going to hell
for changing the day of rest or worship.
It is simply ironic that some people suggesting we should do all things
in Christ are those who suggest this wouldn’t be in church during an Auburn or
Alabama game if the church decided to worship on the Day of Mitzvah. Yet they would go out of their way to
eat a sandwich in the name of God, without God having a say so in it. None of these folks feasting on chicken
sandwiches are asking the question that so many wear like a badge, “What would
Jesus do?”
Now in truth I cannot say for sure what Jesus would do. I just don’t believe in my heart, soul,
or God given functioning brain that he would be standing in line at a fast food
restaurant for a chicken sandwich.
Christ had several key opportunities to become a part of the political
machine during His time on earth.
He never partook.
Christ was not and is not a politician. Instead Christ explained that we should
render under Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Politics belong to the Caesars of the world. There really isn’t much debating this
among the faithful. Yet constantly
Christians try to insert Christ into political conversations.
Is homosexuality a sin? According to my Bible, which I believe in literally, it is a
sin. Is it a high sin? So is coveting, and if you’ve been
budgeting yourself around something you cannot afford that you want really bad,
should you be boycotted? According
to my Bible, which I believe in literally the only high sin, is refusing
Christ. Yet the Bible does
strictly warn us about taking the Lord’s name in vain.
So many lose sight of what that actually means. Dropping a curse word around the name
of God (any name of our God) can be interpreted as taking His name in
vain. Those of Jewish and
Messianic-Jewish faith won’t even write out the name “God” for fear that it
would be taking his name in vain.
They write it, G-d.
Yet more than anything in based upon my personal
relationship with Christ and my personal study, taking the Lord’s name in vain
seems to be more about doing something in His name which isn’t His.
I don’t believe Christ would tackle homosexual union with a
million chicken sandwich march. In
the sixties Christ was made out to be a hippie (see Jesus Christ Superstar),
but Christ wasn’t a hippie. He was
loving, liberal, and convicted, yes.
He was not a man of material possession but one of spiritual
fulfillment. Yet Christ didn’t
protest. His gatherings were never
forced, they just seemed to happen, and this is true. He was an enigmatic, charismatic, plainly spoken, and
profound man, who was also the Son of God. Christ made a movement, but not through force. He didn’t pursue agendas, he pursued
hearts. He didn’t encourage
wallowing in shame or basking in self-righteousness. He pursued charity, good will, and his message of The Father
came from how he lived. Christ expressed Truth openly and poetically. He moved mountains of men, and men who
were mountains. He did these
things by fulfilling the gospel and not an agenda. He showed us how to live within the law without breaking
it.
You might ask, how does one live within the law and also
break it? “We have all fallen
short of the Glory of God.” This is just as much a warning about
self-righteousness as anything else.
We are not here as Christians to place eternal judgments on people for
lifestyles even if said lifestyle seems to be in opposition to our faith. We are here as Christians to serve
God’s will and do so by submitting to Him, and never taking it upon ourselves
to interject His intent into our own persuasions. This is why the temple created 613 laws, because in fear of
breaking 10 they created other laws, which if broken could lead to
unintentional breaking of the ten.
This made living life in the spirit a religious practice of fear rather
than a fulfilling spiritual practice of hope. Christ didn’t come to destroy the law, but fulfill it and in
doing so broke many of the laws the temple had established. This is why he was hung on a tree.
When you place His name on your own agenda and place His
name into your own structure of what is worse than worse, you do something He
has warned us strictly about. Ask
yourself which is worse to the strife of Christianity. Is it worse upon the faith when a
believer who is in the flesh, a sinner commits a sin through his human
faults? Don’t our misdeeds and ill
actions lead us directly to Christ’s feet? Isn’t this why we need him and isn’t that what his sacrifice
was about? Or is it worse when a
believer who is a sinner in the flesh commits a sin in the name of Christ? Doesn’t this create an illusion of who
Christ is? Doesn’t this create a
barrier between the believer and the non-believer?
So today as some of you continue your Chick-Fil-A stance in
the name of Christ, ponder on the last time you passed an opportunity to help a
man or woman in need. How many
times have you offered excuses on not to donate to a beggar because you
believed he or she is scamming you?
How many times have you placed a necessary cause aside for your own
agenda? I’ve committed that one
continuously. Then ask yourself
the real question. Would Jesus
have purchased a Chick-Fil-A sandwich on his free time today with his freed
cash or would he have been in a soup kitchen, a bar, or at a nursing home
uplifting the down trodden? You
see, if we took the anti Chick-Fil-A crowd and placed them on one side of a
line and the stand with Chick-Fil-A crowd and placed them on the other side I
am certain in my soul that Christ would be somewhere else entirely.
Under the Hat is an opinion column exclusive to Bibblogger. It is not to be regarded as a news report. The opinions therein are the thoughts and opinions of its author Daniel L. Bamberg and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centreville Press or it's affiliates.
No comments:
Post a Comment