Take It or Leave It

I have not weighed in on the this whole Chick-Fil-A thing on Facebook, Twitter, or here for a lot of reasons.  Today, after reading something someone said to a dear friend because she stated her opinion in response to a status update I cannot bite my tongue any longer.  [In defense of my friend I would be willing to punch this person but I heard violence is not the answer.] I am not taking a political position [I don't talk politics.  I was taught you never ask a person how old they are, how much they weigh, or who they voted for.  People usually volunteer the last one...read my lips: I DON'T CARE WHO YOU VOTED FOR OR WHAT YOUR PARTY AFFILIATION MIGHT BE. I also am not smart enough to talk politics and I find many people like me that still try and it isn't pretty.] However, I do believe that the definition of marriage should be that of union between one man and one woman only [and we'll get to that in a moment]. 

Here is the Facebook exchange and as always [unless we're talking about my kids then I don't care] the names were deleted to protect the privacy of these people.  I didn't change anything ~ copied and pasted ~ except for leaving out a name in the last response:

• Original Status: How is having a meal at chick-fil-a supporting your rights as a Christian American? To have a meal prepared by people who are not homosexual? To support an organization that wants to use discriminatory hiring practices? What would Jesus do? Oh yea, that's right, have a chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Please don't use religion to mask your fear and bigotry. Jesus loved all mankind and treated them all with equal compassion. Who is any man to judge another's soul? We are meant to love one another despite our differences. I will be praying for all of your misguided souls that you return to the true meaning of being a Christian. Blessings.

• Person 1 [my friend]: I am not sure how I am a misguided soul I just supported a man and his company to be able to speak freely about his religion and not have people spin it to he is anti- gay. Have people not letting his business come in due to his religion.
• Person 2: It's not "spin", he is admittedly, blatantly anti-homosexual. Didnt you see his "guilty as charged " quote? Get your head out of your ass if you're going to weigh in or get ready to be called a lot more than "misguided".
• Person 3: It doesn't matter what he thinks or says. What does matter is where the company donates their profits.
• Person 4: It seems to me that hating a man for speaking his beliefs & using the profits his business has earned to support his beliefs is also bigoted. I don't know whether he or the causes he supports have actually said they hate gay people. But true christianity IS loving everyone as Jesus loves even through disagreement. Don't be a hater of the so-called hater - live out your beliefs & truly love the person(s) who don't believe the same, & that will persuade them many times over treating them with disdain. And that goes for both sides.
• Person 2 responding to Person 4: ...he uses the profits to support "pray away the gay" re-education programs which are nothing less than psychological torture. This is a far cry from passively having an opinion, this is actively destructive. Would you call people that hate slave owners bigoted? Some things should not be tolerated even though the Bible expressly states that owning slaves is perfectly acceptable as long as they're from another country. Your argument is off the mark and painfully misguided.

So I have spent a couple of days thinking [yes, it takes me a while to string coherent thoughts together] and deciding what I wanted to blog.  Again, I don't usually respond to these types of post other than to talk them over with Craig.  I just find that Facebook tends to "stir the pot" and give people an easy way to be angry and mean because they are hiding behind the computer. I just couldn't let this one go.  This is really the first time I've ever responded to a political or otherwise controversial topic. [Well other than that time I stirred the pot by calling a Crest fan "ignorant".  My take on it was this: He had on a Crest shirt + he shouted a comment as my son was getting an award, about my son = Ignorant Crest fan.  Apparently, according to some irate folks, there are ignorant fans everywhere, not just at Crest.  This person just saw "Crest" in the post and ASSUMED it was a stab at them...didn't read the entire story.  This fan would've been ignorant if he'd been from KM.] 

I take a stand: I agree that marriage is between one man and one woman.  I applaude Chick-Fil-A for taking a stand in [my opinion] a world that is too tolerant.  According to some sermon notes I took at church, I wrote down that modern Christianity says God must bend for our views.  He doesn't bend for our view but tells us to repent.  That "us" begins with me. [Just an aside: I am not calling anyone out. In John 8, when the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman before Jesus, he told them that the first one without sin could throw stones. This is not a stoning.  I am not without sin.  I am not perfect. But I am forgiven.]  Jesus has a standard of holiness.  I believe that this is what Chick-Fil-A is supporting: not bending to accomodate but believing what the Bible says about this issue.   As Christians we are to be like Jesus not like the world. John 15: 18 - 19 says (NIV) says, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."  In Joshua 1:6-9 (NIV) God says, "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Not taking a stand for something is taking a stand.  As Christians, on Wednesday, we took a stand because we strive to meet Jesus' standard of holiness.

From the above response: What would Jesus do? Oh yea, that's right, have a chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Please don't use religion to mask your fear and bigotry. Jesus loved all mankind and treated them all with equal compassion.  Going back to the story from John above, Jesus asked the woman being accused of adultery if she had been condemned yet.  When she answered no, He tells her that he will not condemn her either.  THEN He says, "Go now and leave your life of sin." Yes, Jesus shows compassion.  He has shown me more compassion than my pitiful self will ever deserve.  But, because he demands holiness from us, he also comands we turn from sin.  He didn't condemn the woman, nor did he ask her for proof of her sin because he already knew her sin.  He commanded that she turn away from it. I am not afraid and I am certain Jesus is not afraid.  Jesus was not afraid to die a painful death on a cross so that I may have eternal life....I am certainly not going to be afraid to defend my support of marriage as one man and one woman.  I do not fear being called names and condemned for my beliefs ~ Jesus died for his.  Revelation 3:16 (NIV) says, "So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth." We are called to take a stand. [As to whether or not Jesus would have bought a chicken sandwich and waffle fries I feel certain that food would not have been his priority had he visited a Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday.]

In conclusion [some of you just did the happy dance], thank you Chick-Fil-A for not faltering on your beliefs. Thank you for supporting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman.  Thank you for not being lukewarm.