A Clerk, Chicken, and Conviction

In Matthew 7, Jesus challenges us to make sure that our lives line up with what we say we believe. We are called and empowered to be people that reflect His nature.  Here are some of the words of
Jesus:
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Jesus spoke of remaining connected to Him - as the branches draw life from the vine, so we draw life from the presence of Jesus in us.  If He is the Savior and Lord of our lives, then we can expect Him to produce fruit through us.  We cannot bear fruit for His glory by ourselves - we need to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to express His life through us.  We testify to our relationship with God as we speak and live according to His principles, found in His Word.

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The faith that we proclaim that we possess is expressed through the way that we live. James chapter 2 says:
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

This Labor Day weekend, you may be doing some travelling.  You may be heading out of town, perhaps to Dallas, maybe to Atlanta to see a football game involving one of our state schools.   And, you may be eating out.

There's a connection between the two - football and food, that is, when you consider that Auburn's opening game is being sponsored by America's favorite restaurant, according to a USA Today story.

While customer satisfaction with full-service restaurants has remained steadfast, satisfaction with fast-food restaurants has reached a five-year low, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index's Annual Restaurant Survey. Fast-food restaurants fell 3.8% to a score of 77 on ACSI's 100-point scale.

But while overall customer satisfaction with restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Wendy's experienced declines in customer satisfaction, others did see gains.

In its first year on the list, Chick-fil-A took the lead as the most popular fast-food restaurant in the rankings. The chain scored 86 in customer service, the highest the survey has ever recorded for a fast-food restaurant.

And, Breitbart stated this last year:

Despite the fact that Chick-fil-A closes on Sundays, despite that the chain has fewer stores, and despite the major attack on its businesses by left-wing activists, Chick-fil-A has surpassed Kentucky Fried Chicken as the nation’s leader for fast food chicken.

 Writer Warner Todd Huston states:

Amazingly, Chick-fil-A has achieved this status with fewer locations than its top rival. The Georgia-based restaurant has 1,775 stores in the U.S. compared to KFC’s 4,491. Despite that disparity in locations, Chik-fil-A [sic] earned $5.05 billion in 2013 whereas KFC brought in $4.22 billion.

Now among Chick-Fil-A's detractors: members of the Denver City Council.  Maybe you've heard the story.   Seems a Chick-Fil-A was being considered for the airport there.  Well, the council decided to inject a moral element to the proposal, according to The Daily Signal.  Katrina Trinko writes:

Denver council member Paul Lopez “called opposition to the chain at DIA ‘really, truly a moral issue,'” according to the Denver Post, while council member Robin Kniech is alarmed about Chick-fil-A’s “corporate profits used to fund and fuel discrimination.”

“Ten of the 13 [Denver city council] members attended Tuesday’s meeting, and none rose to defend Chick-fil-A, although some didn’t weigh in,” reported the Post.

Chick-fil-A’s crime? Well, back in 2012—when 48 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage, according to Gallup—Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy spoke out about his opposition to gay marriage, setting off a firestorm. The fact that the CEO of a company so committed to Christian values that it’s not even open on Sundays opposed gay marriage was somehow shocking.

As Trinko pointed out, Cathy has changed his tone.  But, I would point out that Chick-Fil-A is still actively involved in strengthening marriages and families through its affiliated WinShape Foundation.  Back to Denver, there is certainly a "Denver double standard" here:

If the Denver City Council is concerned about the morality of the businesses at the airport, they should take a closer look at two current occupants: Ben and Jerry’s and Starbucks.

According to 2nd Vote, Starbucks Foundation has donated to Planned Parenthood, while Starbucks has been “listed as a company that matches employees’ gifts to Planned Parenthood.” Ben and Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, has donated to Planned Parenthood. Neither Starbucks nor Ben and Jerry’s responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment in July when asked about their support for Planned Parenthood.

So, while Kim Davis is locked up in jail at this hour for standing on her convictions, we're reminded of the intolerance of many for those who hold to a traditional view of marriage, as does Dan Cathy. And, people have the right to conduct their business according to Christian principles.  If your employer is asking you to do something that violates your deeply-held convictions, there should be accommodations.  Isn't that what the Supreme Court found in the case of the Muslim woman who wanted to work at Abercrombie and Fitch, but they wouldn't let her because she desired to wear a headscarf?   The high court ruled in her favor.  A county clerk or probate judge should not have to provide services that violate their convictions, and a cake baker or wedding photographer should not be forced by the heavy hand of government to violate their conscience.

And, nobody's talking about not serving gay customers.  In some of the cases, the service providers had sold products to homosexuals, and even recommended others to provide wedding-related services.  There are multiple clerks in Kentucky that can provide a marriage licenses to gay couples - Kim Davis does not need to be singled out and certainly should not be in jail.

Chick-Fil-A does not have signs in its restaurants saying that they serve heterosexuals only - that is totally ridiculous, but that seems to be the implication by those opposing the expansion of its chain.

Well, there is good news from Denver.  The Denver Post reports that just this week, a committee on Tuesday approved the concession deal at Denver International Airport - by a 5-0 vote. The Post says that this "signals that the concession deal at Denver International Airport likely will face little or no turbulence in the full council in coming weeks. Council members who had raised questions about the operators' nondiscrimination policies, as well as about Chick-Fil-A's past political activity, said they were satisfied with the answers they got."  And the Sunday closing, which may have been an issue early on, apparently is not a problem either.

So, here are a few takeaways for us:

The Post reported that there had been a number of e-mails and phone calls, some of them crossing over into vitriol.  I think we have to be firm yet polite in our approach on sensitive issues, but we should not be intimidated from speaking out.  Isn't free speech great?  And, that is something that we can enjoy in America.  Christians have a place to voice - and live out - their views.  In this case, I have no idea how much influence constituents had, but it can remind us that our public officials are elected by us, and they need to listen.

And, by the way, I'll have more later, but it appears that Governor Bentley's call for a special session leaves the door open to gambling legislation being introduced as a means of raising revenue, according to an AL.com report.  Gambling, including a lottery, is an unstable and immoral way of raising money, and whatever revenue it generates is primarily taken from those who can least afford it, according to experts.  This is a matter of prayer - and action - contact your legislator and remind him or her that this is poor public policy and should not be considered.   Ask your lawmaker to oppose any gambling legislation and procedural votes.

Finally, there is a great note for us on this Labor Day weekend - our work is important to God, and we should conduct it in a manner that pleases Him.  We can depend on God to lead us in how we approach our profession - we should do our work with excellence and with conviction.   We should operate with the utmost integrity and we are to guard against acting in a manner that does not line up with Biblical principles.  And, if we are being asked to do something that violates our deeply-held beliefs, then appropriate action should be taken - that may even involve resigning our position, but we can trust God to provide another job for us.  We have to make sure that all our conduct lines up with His standards.