On Being Christian

Alright, yes, everyone and their grandmother has a blog about Chick-fil-A out in the past couple weeks, especially in light of yesterday's fireworks over eating more chicken. I sincerely believe that most people that went to Chick-fil-A yesterday did it because they thought they were supporting a business that needed their support. "Ain't nothing wrong with that is there?" is what I heard from several of my friends and family. Is there anything wrong with that?

Well, YES there is something wrong with that! Here's several reasons why Christians failed yesterday:

1 - Christians proved that they are a bunch of followers. And not of Christ either. People just lined up all day long outside CFAs across America because some dude whose name sounds like something from a Mark Twain novel said that we needed to support CFA and free speech. People just lined up outside CFA like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd, having no real clue why they were there, with the exception that they saw something about it on facebook. In essence, what Christians did was follow a multi-millionaire's instructions to give a multi-billion dollar company more money.

2 - Christians, by going to CFA yesterday, gave no thought as to the repercussions of their actions. It alienated a large group of people. And not just LBGT people, but people who aren't Christians. You just gave millions of people around the world a chance to mock you, laugh at you, and say, "that's why I'm not a Christian." Why would people say that about you? Because you say that God is love, you say that God wants everyone to come to God's family, and then you completely alienate a group of people in the name of...well, you probably don't even know why you went. And that's just it - how would you feel about Christians today if you were LBGT? Christians marched up to CFA yesterday like they were going to find the beast in the forest! Get your pitchforks and torches everyone! We're going to slay the giant! "Van, we were defending the freedom of speech!" Who said Danny Cathy didn't have the right to say what he said? He has every right to say that, but there are consequences and fallout from those words. And the consequences and fallout of people showing up to CFA yesterday are far greater than the support they gave.

3 - "We were supporting the Bible, Van!" Ohhhhhhh reaa-heaaaa-lllleeyyyy?! You were, were ya? Then I'm awaiting the arrival of your children to the slave auction tonight, especially your daughters because they're not allowed to go free (yippee!). Speaking of your children, let's sacrifice them because we made a vow! And, why we're sacrificing our children, let's chop someone up into twelve pieces and mail them off to start a war! "Wait, Van, that ain't nice!" Well, you said you were supporting what the Bible says, so I'm just bringing up what the Bible says. You see, people don't like that, especially Christians, because they, for the most part, don't even know their own scriptures. They champion the parts they really love, and ignore the parts they don't love. They champion the part that says that a man and a woman leave their father and mother to get married, but they ignore the part that says that if a man rapes a woman she has to marry him. "We're supporting biblical marriage!" Oh really? So you support raping women who then have to marry the rapists? (Not to mention the other biblical marriage standards, found here) If Christians say they support biblical marriage, I really hope they understand what it is their actually saying.

4 - By going to CFA yesterday, you proved that you completely ignore the mission of Christ. You're more focused on "issues" than what it really means to follow Christ. What if I started a campaign and called it "homeless appreciation day"? Would millions of people show up? Would millions of people give their money to buy food? Would millions of people blog about it and post it on facebook? Christ spoke of the poor over 100 times, and yet Christians for the most part ignore their charge to take care of the poor. It's downright embarrassing how Christians made themselves look yesterday in lieu of things that really matter - millions of people dying of AIDS in Africa each year; homeless sleeping on the streets right outside their windows; millions of orphans in Africa who have nothing; being peacemakers in a world that so desperately needs to hear peace (Sudan and Syria anyone?) to name a few. Christians completely ignore these major issues that should have their full attention, and instead they give their attention to a matter that doesn't even need their attention. I've said these things to a few people the past couple days and the answer I get is, "yeah but it's easy to support CFA, because we need to eat and it was for a good cause." The irony in that statement is so heavy it could sink a submarine. Christians can spend $10 at CFA, but they can't spend $10 a month supporting a child overseas. They can spend an hour waiting in line waiting to buy a sandwich, but they can't spend an hour in a line passing out a sandwich to someone who is desperately hungry. They can brag and post about going to CFA on blogs and on facebook, but they can't go down to the prison and visit with someone who desperately needs to hear of the love of Christ.

5 - Still aren't convinced people? Here's what Christ says about worrying about food. By the way, in the Greek, this is an imperative - a command. You DO NOT do this. Is not life more important than food?! Aren't these other things I've mentioned more important than CFA?!

And doesn't that get you absolutely FIRED UP people?! This angers me! I am a believer and I am a follower of Christ and this stuff really makes me angry! We can't go out into the street and look someone in the eyes and just talk to them; we can't go the prison and put our hands in someone else's hands and tell them that we love them, that we're thinking of them; we can't send our money to someone who is so desperately poor that they can't even eat; we can't give money to someone who is sick so that they begin the process of healing (it's the economy, we just don't have any money right now. You understand); we can't give our time to volunteer at a homeless shelter; we don't line up by the thousands demanding peace in Syria and in the Sudan (because, that's not what Christians do - leave that to the government, because the government always handles those situations perfectly); we can't talk to strangers and share the love of Christ because we're too busy flapping our gums about CFA!!! We can't do any of those things, but let's all line up outside CFA to support...uh...what was it we're supporting?

Christians completely ignored the mission of Christ yesterday and it makes me sad and embarrassed to be a Christian. Well I don't know about you people, but I'm sick and tired of being embarrassed to be a Christian! We're supposed to be fired up about helping the poor, helping heal the sick, welcoming strangers, going to prisons, being peacemakers, and giving people hope in an otherwise hopeless world. Forget about  CFA, CFA will take care of itself! We need to stop worrying about what Mark Twain's buddy tells us to do, and start doing what we've already been told to do by Christ. We need to get busy doing the work of Christ, and stop delineating on matters that are trivial.

The reason I go to CFA to eat is because they serve me up some dang good chicken! I don't go to support some sort of cause, especially ones that are ill-founded. Speaking of this, I'll be the one to check out and interpret what the Bible says about marriage, not Danny Cathy or Huckleberry Dingleberry Finn. Danny Cathy can just shut his yapper and keep making chicken! So, I'll keep going to CFA to eat, because...uh...wait, why am I going? Oh, because they serve up some dang good chicken!