Tell It To Al

Al: I just read your column, “The Gospel according to Chick-fil-A” on Market Watch. It was clear that your piece was less about news and more about criticism. With your apparent lack of contextual biblical understanding you only embarrass yourself with your comments. Couldn’t you simply applaud Chick-fil-A for wanting to give their employees a set day off each week to be with their families, regardless of their reasons. I work two jobs, the second one being in retail. It is not uncommon for employees seeking a weekend off to have to work 10 or more days straight to get it. It is what it is. My wife and I eat out at a variety of restaurants both chain and private. Many of the owners hold to liberal/secular social beliefs – so what! We don’t openly criticize them or protest outside their establishments, we are there for the food. Marriage is very important to the Cathy family as evidenced by their marriage. At one time their view was the dominate one. The fact that it is not the case today speaks to the decline of our society, not its betterment. To those who don’t like the Cathy family’s social views then simply don’t eat at their restaurants and leave it at that. Aren’t there real and much bigger issues to focus on?

Not to mention…a ‘biblical marriage’ involves multiple wives, concubines, and rules like if your husband dies, the oldest brother marries you. Woman had no say what-so-ever in these ‘biblical’ marriages. I suppose it’s convenient to pick and choose what you like from the Bible.

Eric’s comments are a bit harsh when speaking of embarrassment. It’s difficult to be embarrassed when you don’t really understand why you should be. It’s more, I believe, in your lack of understanding of how the Old and New Testament come together, which really addresses Vicki’s comment as well. Jesus himself used the Old Testament to show examples of how to behave in the then present world, and can and should be applied now as well. Stories from the Old Testament were used for lessons to show consequences for behavior as God was rejected time and time again by Israel. So much so, in fact, that Jesus called everyone else. It’s an invitation, not a threat. A loving call, not a hateful reproach. We, as Christians don’t always do a good job of it and like Israel before us, are too often hypocritical.

Living your life in appreciation and with respect for God’s creation, you, is what is important. Believing there is a God only, basically just isn’t good enough. Practicing the respect is also important.

Jesus was rejected by Israel because what he said then was difficult for people to come to terms with. They reject him today for the same reason. If you are going to reject him, better to do so honestly than to play at both ends. He said, let your “yes” mean “yes” and your “no” mean “no”. There are no gray areas and there is no cafeteria style menu to choose what you like and don’t like. This is why it is so polarizing. We may not always be successful in our ability to not sin, but we have made our “yes” mean “yes”.

Al,
What a lot of folks believe, including many religious people is that religion, politics, and now business should not be mixed. And for the person who religion is a building and a day of the week, that’s probably what needs to take place. But for those that have had a personal encounter w/ Jesus, experienced his forgiveness, and have a changed heart, it’s not about a building, a day of the week, or a set of do’s and dont’s. It about character, faithfulness, honesty, humility, truth and courage. What is believed to be true and right is not just a part of a 2-hr event on Sunday, Saturday, or any other day of the week. It’s who you are and what you believe and it’s a part of your fiber and you believe and act accordingly 24/7 and it’s a part of your politics, business, and personal relationships. You’re not 2-faced – sweet and kind at church and a horse’s rear the rest of the week. Unfortunately we all know folks that are that way and I apologize that those folks leave a bad taste for Christians and Christianity in the mouths of so many. I lovingly correct my children when they make wrong choices in order to keep them safe and to, hopefully, give them a long happy life. I don’t love them less or more when they chose wrongly but out of love I speak the truth to them so they’ll learn what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s no different w/ homosexuals, adulterers, or child molesters. The path is wrong, the truth needs to be told, but that doesn’t mean that they’re hated. What parent would not steer their child rightly? And I certainly wouldn’t want to tell my child on Sunday that it’s wrong to bully someone and then allow my business to send money to a group that was known for vicious intimidation and bullying. To ask someone to behave different at work, in politics, at home, and at church is to ask them to deny who they are in their core being. We can all sit around an argue about what are called social issues for 3 years and then political issues for 1 year but when you drill down through all of that, it comes down to the most controversial topic in the history of the world – Jesus. If he’s who he says he is/who the Bible says he is then there are going to be a lot of shocked folks one day – many of whom wouldn’t darken the doorway of a church and many that have set there for years thinking they can claim to believe something in the church house but aren’t responsible for living it out in their daily lives. I’ll bet Mr. Cathy won’t be shocked. He’ll be delighted when Jesus says “Welcome, good and faithful servant.”

I disagree with the part about being “misguided”
The Cathy family has built a business based on the same Biblical principals and values they’ve established their family on, being guided by Gods Word.
Are you suggesting having faith in God, believing His Word to be the source for understanding and wisdom in all matters, then practicing what Gods says in ones daily life is to be misguided?

The “pick and choose” people are typically the ones that may have read pieces of the Bible but have not studied the Bible in it’s entirety.
The Bible, read and studied in context, reveals how far removed our ways & thoughts are from Gods ways and thoughts.

Mr. Lewis,
First let me ask what did Mr. Cathy say that was so offensive? All he said was that He believes in the “Biblical definition of a family.” I don’t understand how this is offensive.
I also respectfully must say that your ignorance of the Bible and what it says and teaches is very apparent in this article. You may use the term ancient but the only thing ancient about the Bible is the original manuscripts.
The Bible is the best selling book of all time AND, even still today, the best selling books annually. It is compiled of 66 books written by over 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years with amazing consistency and who all have a unified theme, Jesus.
The stories in the Old Testament show an amazing amount of truthfulness. It would have been very easy to have left the bad parts out but God allowed the sin of man to be shown throughout the Books. Vicki is in error in asserting that the Bible condones polygamy or adultery, in fact it actually condemns both. Also, women had much more rights with the Children of Israel than with any other culture of the time and the punishment for breaking their laws were, by far, the most lenient in the world at that time. This is agreed upon by just about all secular non-religious ancient history scholars. Although many have tested the Bible the historical, scientific, and archeological facts in the Bible have NEVER been proven incorrect. Evolution is just a theory that man has taken as fact with no proof. The Old Testament states that the earth revolves around the sun. It talks about that water cycle. and many other facts found in the Bible.
The Bible, both Old and New Testament is about love and forgiveness. God loved us so much that, while we were sinners and defied Him, He killed His only son so that we could be forgiven and made righteous in our sin. We are condemned to a “lake of fire and brimstone” because we sinned against God (we turn our back on Him time and again) yet even in this He loves us and desires for us to love Him and to spend eternity with Him. this could only happen through the shedding of innocent blood, His son. this is exemplified to the nation of Israel and the world in the Old Testament.
The laws in the Old Testament serve one main purpose. According the Paul in the book of Romans, they serve to show us our sin so that we can be confronted with the privilege of repentance and seeking forgiveness in order to be made righteous through the blood of Jesus. Jesus loves you and desires to forgive you BUT you must come to this on His terms. perfect holiness is the ONLY admitting requirement into heaven and this is only attained through repentance (turning away from your sin) and forgiveness by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
There is more that would need to be shared but if you are interested you may, with an open mind, read through the books of John and Romans. I also challenge you to attempt to prove the Bible wrong. However, only if you have an open mind would this show you the truth. Jesus said “seek and you shall find.”
May God bless you on your journey.