Philippians 1:21-26 Archive at bottom of the page.
You know I don't talk about politics much but today I have to point out what two elected officials said this week that as Christians we must reject. The mayors of Chicago and Boston basically said they don't want Chick-fil-A in their cities. Why? Because the owner of this private company, the son of the founder, said that he personally agrees with the Biblical definition of marriage. The Chick-fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy, did not say he would not hire or serve homosexuals, he only said that he personally believes that marraige is between one man and one woman.Everyone knows that due to his Biblical worldview, his restaurants are closed on Sundays. This is so employees can go to church with their families. He doesn't require employees to go to church and has no interest in hiring only people who go to church, he simply wants to make it easy for everyone who works for Chick-fil-A to go to worship services on Sunday.
The easiest thing for Dan Cathy to do at this point in his life is quit. He doesn't need another restaurant, he doesn't need another car or a vacation home. He has fought the good fight for decades and could be inclined in the face of this publicity to throw in the towel. But, if Dan Cathy quits, all Christians lose. So while I never recommend any person buy any specific product, this one time I am asking you to eat at Chick-fil-A. And, when you are in the restaurant, tell the employees you are there to support Mr. Cathy and their entire organization.
We need to stand with Mr. Cathy and show the world that we notice these mayors. What they are trying to do--block a private business from building in their city--is illegal. They are using their powerful bully pulpits to bully us and we need to stand up to them. How do we do that? With our wallets. If every Christian bought a sandwich at Chick-fil-A it would send an amazing message to Mr. Cathy that we do not want him to quit.
When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi he was probably 80 years old. He was in jail in Rome and in this passage he is basically saying that he might rather leave this earthly fight and go on to be with Jesus in heaven. He says, "for me dying is gain." Then Paul catches himself and realizes that because of what the new followers of Jesus are going through, it is better for him to stick it out with them. He knows they need a strong leader to encourage them in their walk with Christ.
Just like Paul did not quit, we can't quit and we hope and pray that Dan Cathy doesn't quit. Whatever the world throws at us we are to stand firm for what the Bible teaches. In this case, you can stand firm by having a meal at Chick-fil-A.
