Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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How Chick-fil-A baffled the PR pundits

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Chick-fil-AIn a USAToday article entitled Surprise: PR nightmare didn’t damage Chick-fil-A, Bruce Horowitz expresses surprise that Chick-fil-A was not negatively impacted by the firestorm sent against it by the homosexual community and its supporters. I offer some thoughts on why this “controversy” did not damage Chick-fil-A.

  • Dan Cathy was accused of “hate speech” against homosexuals by his comments in support of marriage. In all of the articles I have read on his interview, I heard nothing hateful toward anyone coming from Dan Cathy’s mouth. He made statements in support of traditional marriage. He did not say that homosexuals are inferior people, nor did he say that homosexuals should be targeted for discrimination. He merely said that by his understanding, marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.
  • I think that people grow tired of the verbal engineering that the homosexual community uses to label as “homophobic” anyone who disagrees with their agenda. Most rational people understand that a person can disagree with his neighbor without hating or fearing him. It is possible to have strong support for traditional marriage and treat homosexuals with respect and dignity.
  • The math doesn’t support the idea that this firestorm should have a large impact on Chick-fil-A. A Gallup.com article concludes that most Americans overestimate the homosexual population to be around 20% when the actual numbers are in the single digits. Some estimate the homosexual population to be as low as 2% and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimate as high as 8% of the population. If you assume that Chick-fil-A had a normal market share in the homosexual community, a boycott could potentially create only an 8% reduction in sales.
  • Consider the fact that because of the firestorm, Chick-fil-A name recognition went up. For a few weeks, Chick-fil-A’s name was often on TV, computer screens and in print. It was essentially free advertising for the brand. Spontaneous sales would naturally increase because of the name promotion.
  • The increased name recognition coupled with the fatigue induced by the verbal engineering of the radical homosexual community induced many to eat at Chick-fil-A that might not have done so before the controversy. Some began visiting Chick-fil-A stores just to support Dan Cathy in light of the unfair accusations against him.

Some who have claimed to be Christian have said hateful things against homosexuals; those who do are rightly condemned. I must confess that the Church has a history of handling the issue of homosexuality poorly. There have been times when homosexuality has been treated as the unforgivable sin, which it is not.

According to the Bible, every human has dignity because humanity bears the image of God. We have all marred that image through sin, none of us stands with an unblemished record. This is the point of the “do not judge” command that Jesus gives us in Matthew 7:1. We are not to look down on others because they are sinners because we ourselves are also sinners.

While the Church should treat homosexuals with the respect that is due those who bear the image of God, we also must stand firm on the definition of marriage that God gave us in Scripture. This is exactly what Dan Cathy did. Mr. Cathy allowed his belief to inform his policy.

Apparently America agrees with his right to do so.

The night God was booed

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They booed God

DNC Booed God

A recent article in the Christian Post describes events at the Democratic National Convention where delegates booed when it was announced that the word God was added to the party platform.

Supporters of the Republican Party (GOP) will most likely point to this event in an effort to garner support for their own candidates. After all, who wants to be a supporter of the party that booed God?

But is the GOP the answer?

Problem in the culture

The sad thing is that our culture boos God every day. People of both parties boo God, if not in word, then by action. We boo God when we . . .

  • ignore God’s revelation to man in the form of Scripture
  • allow for the redefinition of institutions given to us by God
  • ignore God’s principles on taking care of the poor among us
  • allow for the killing of innocent children because they are unplanned or inconvenient

Christians would do well to remember that no political party exists to further the claims of Christ and the mission of his church. We may each have an opinion of which party comes closer to supporting Christian ideals but we must keep in mind that neither party is Christian in its outlook.

In America, we’ve been given the freedom and the responsibility to vote to determine which candidates represent us in the political system. We should take this responsibility seriously and vote for the candidate that seems best qualified to address the issues we face.

Politics not the answer

Perhaps the DNC has done us a favor by being overt in their disdain of God and God’s principles. It should serve as a wakeup call to the church to remind us that politics is not where we should look for answers to what plagues our culture. The problem is not the DNC or the GOP, the problem is the rejection of God by a large percentage of our population. The Republican Party is not the safe haven we seek.

The addition of God in either party’s platform does nothing of benefit for those who do not wish to be in relationship with him. There is no magic in the addition of the word. Jesus said of the religious leaders of his day, “this people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me (Matthew 15:8).” Likewise we can say the right thing but do the wrong.

The problem with ancient Israel was not a failure to call on God. The problem was that they relegated him to one God among many gods. They included Yahweh in an effort to cover their bases, not because of special regard for him. In the same way, the addition or subtraction of the word God in the party platform could be seen as an effort to add God to the other gods society worships just to improve the odds of being elected.

Our only hope

The only hope for our society is for the Church to have a renewed commitment to fulfill the command to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). We make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to obey the commands of Jesus. This is not a political process, nor does politics enable this process.

The Church will prevail against the gates of Hell when, and only when, she is the Church and ceases trying to be a faction in a political party.

Do they feel welcome and will they come back?

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Do they feel welcome?

Welcome Mat

While our ultimate goals is to bring people into relationship with Jesus, a mediate goal should be to get them into our community. In other words, church attendance is not the final goal, but people who attend church are more likely to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

If a person off the street happened to come into your church service, would they feel welcome and would they be likely to come back?

Music?

Is your music something that the average non-churched person can identify with? We are not called to follow every whim of the music market. But I do think that we are called to present worship in a way that someone from the surrounding culture can understand. The goal is not perfection or virtuosity, but the worship must be genuine. Do your visitors see that the worship is genuine? Is the style of music off-putting?

Teaching?

Do you present Scripture in a way that someone with no Biblical knowledge can understand? The gospel does not need to be modified or watered down, but it does need to be proclaimed in a way that can be understood. The Apostle Paul is our example in this. Paul used Scripture when speaking to Jews and quoted the Greek poets when speaking with Greeks. He used language that his hearers could understand to present the unchangeable truth of Jesus Christ.

Fellowship?

Are you glad to have visitors? If so, do they sense this when you greet them? If someone looks like they’re struggling to figure out where to take their kids, do people recognize this and point them in the right direction? Do you have people available to answer questions about the church? I have visited churches where I was not sure if any knew I was a visitor or cared if I ever returned. This should not be the case.

Questions?

Do you provide a forum for non-believers or new believers to get questions answered? Do you welcome questions? Or do you give the false impression to your guests that everyone else in the audience is in the know? We all struggle with doubts and questions from time to time. Can we be honest about this with our visitors and provide a way for those doubts to be addressed?

Let’s not play church

If we are not sensitive to the needs of new or prospective disciples then we are failing in our mission. We cannot afford to play church, we are called to be the church. The church is to be a gathering of the redeemed who are active in God’s mission to reconcile the world to himself. If we settle for the church as a social organization we settle for less than what God would have us be.

Jesus told us that the defining characteristic of the the church is to be love. In short, if someone visits your church and does not sense love, then you have failed.

The only proper response to failure is repentance and resolution to do better.

Preaching with impact

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Reading and article by J. S. Park subtitled, “The Difference Between a Speech And a Sermon,” got me thinking of my own experience in hearing sermons.

The “A” List

Sword
Sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12)

I have had the privilege of sitting under the preaching of some of the men who would be on many people’s “Who’s Who” list of preachers. They are on the “A” list because they are knowledgeable, talented and have the gift of oratory. They know their Bibles and can tell stories which illustrate the meaning that they want to draw out of the Biblical text. They are good at their craft. They are like high-end chefs who prepare gourmet spiritual meals. These sermons are beautiful, presented well and tasty.

One the other hand, the preachers who have had the most impact upon my spiritual growth are not on this list. These preachers were not flashy, they were not always funny, but they always got to the core of the passage and brought it to me in a way that God could use to break through my nonsense and bring real change. As compared to the “A” list preachers, these presented meat and potatoes. Their sermons were not flashy, not elegant, but very nourishing.

The point of this is not to denigrate the “A” list preachers. They are great at what they do and by their popularity it appears that they help a lot of people. I enjoy listening to sermons presented by these men.

The Point

My point is that preaching does not have to be flashy, humorous, witty, or spellbinding to be effective. Switching back to the food analogy, we do not need gourmet food all the time. Basic home cooking serves better in the long run. We need preachers who will faithfully, week after week, bring the word of God to their people. For, it is the Word of God and the Word of God alone that will cause spiritual growth in the hearers (Hebrews 4:12).

Not every man who is called to preach will have the talent and personality to be an “A” list preacher. It is often the case that the preacher with less talent but a greater love of God will produce more lasting fruit.

The Standard

Preachers, do not feel that you are in competition with the “A” listers. Tune your ear to God’s word and bring it to your people. God will take care of the rest. Your job is to be faithful.

People, do not judge your pastor by comparing him to the preacher on your iPod or on the radio. Judge your pastor on whether he proclaims the truth of Scripture and leads you in fulfilling the two great commands to love God and love your neighbor.

Feel free to leave a comment with a shout-out to a preacher who has had a positive impact on your life.

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