My Take On The Great Chick Fil A Debate

 

What does "love them like Jesus" mean to you?  

 

I ask this question because of all the recent uproar over same sex marriage and the Chick Fil A arguments that are plastered on every news channel and social media outlet in the world.  As a Christian, I was really saddened by the bickering I saw and heard firsthand at the hands of people that I admired or sought wisdom and comfort in.  I know we all have our opinions and thanks to those who fight for our freedom, we have the ability to express those opinions whichever way we choose...however, I feel that America has it all wrong - and I'm going to tell you why.

 

I know that many of you will disagree with me and that is fine, just remember, we all sin and sin is sin and we are told specifically not to judge others.  Let's look at the facts before I tell you how i'm feeling and how I came to my own conclusions.  I did extensive research before I made the decision to post this information along with my opinions.

 

The divorce rate in the United States as of April 2012 is right at 51%.  Second and Third marriages see an increase of up to 78%.  This means that half the children in our society today are faced with the feelings that come along with divorce including loneliness, anger, bitterness, insecurity, and abandonment.  Divorce in our country is due to the lack of values and understanding the meaning of commitment, loyalty, responsibility and the will to work together to sustain the family united - in my humble opinion. Marriage is a commitment made between to people, to care and support each other to fulfill their goals and objectives to enable each other to contribute to the economic and welfare of the family. A family that is united by love is a family that will endure any thing; love, trust and unity are the key elements of a successful marriage.  I am not acting like I am a professional in the area of marriage, but we have to face the facts.  The sanctity of marriage is not going away because men are wanting to marry men or women are wanting to marry women, the sanctity of marriage is going away because we as a society have become pushy, impatient, angry, bitter, and in a sense, unloveable.  I am by no means supporting gay marriage or saying that it is okay, I am simply saying that the hate that is being spread is not okay and I refuse to participate in any of it. 

 

I cannot imagine being a gay person in the world today.  It had to have been really hard for them to endure Chick Fil A Day and all the uproar that came with it.  I was shocked to see how many of my loving, Christian friends not only supported it but posted pictures of it boasting proudly that they were against gay marriage.  Some research was done directly after that day and found that up to 8 gay people took their own lives in result of what took place.  Eight People felt so hated, so beat up, so unloved, that they killed themself. 

 

 That brings me to my next thought...I want to lead people to Christ, not torment them to hell or suicide. 

 

You can love the sinner without loving the sin but passing judgement on them just puts your life under a microscope and also turns those people away from God because of YOU. I don't want to be the person that stands in the way from someone wanting a relationship with Christ.

  I want to be the person that helps people to get to him and be around his people as much as possible. I understand that they are the only one who can seek him into their heart, but I don't want them to ever turn away because of my hurtful judgements or to pass up going to church because of "people like that".  Could you imagine being in their shoes? I sure couldn't. 

 

I saw people posting bible verses and while I understand that the bible is clear on marriage being between man and woman, I had to think of all the other things that the bible is clear on that we do not do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.  I just don't understand why people are so quick to judge others instead of looking at their own life.  I have so many things in my life I need to deal with.  My relationship with Christ is better than ever, but that brings on a feeling of maturity and responsibility to grow in your faith.  When God came into my heart, I experienced pure joy, but I did not experience hatred for other people - no matter what type of sinning they were a part of.  If you want to support people and show them what being a Christian means, then by all means, please do.  But, all I ask is that you love them like Jesus.  I had to think about the age old question, what would Jesus do? Would he be walking into Chick Fil A eating at a place simply because they are against same sex marriage?  Or better yet, would he be using the money spent on an average meal at Chick Fil A which is $7.11 to feed up to 7 other hungry people.  Chick Fil A saw a 42% increase in Sales (according to some reports) on that day which meant that they grossed about 1.7 million extra in sales - if that info is correct (again, i'm no stastics expert, just went digging around the internet).

 

How many hungry people could have been fed with 1.7 MILLION DOLLARS? 

 

When asked about the day, this is what the President of Chick Fil A had to say:

 

Chick-fil-A says it set a sales record on Wednesday, the day that supporters rallied around the fast-food chain amid a debate over its president's opposition to same-sex marriage.

The chain said it won't release sales numbers, but "we can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day," said Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A's executive vice president of marketing.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had called on people to buy food at the chain on Wednesday, which he dubbed "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," after a backlash against the company and their president.

So, it lead me to think..what did this accomplish? 
Was there one person saved? Was there anybody turned away from being Gay?  Did someone realize that they were going to hell and changed their ways?  Did we feed the hungry or raise money for those in need?  As far as I know, the answer to all of these is quite possibly no.
But did we spread hatred?  Did we draw a line between gays and straights? Did we allow people to commit what many believe to be a hate crime? Did we hurt the lives of many people along the way?  The answer to that is a quick YES.  We did alot of damage... and we probably pushed many people even farther away from Jesus and the church.  If you were gay and were thinking about visiting church or possibly trying to learn about the bible, would you want to after seeing all of this?  I know I sure wouldn't.  I would feel unloved, dirty, and a lost cause. 

But, the thing is, we are all lost causes.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  ALL of us.  Gay people, straight people, married people, unmarried people, black people, white people, moms, dads, murderers, liars, thiefs, adulterers, the list goes on and on.... 

In today's society, it is becoming harder and harder to receive acceptance from those around you.  We have seen a huge uprise in teen suicide for that same reason.  I feel that by us participating in things like this, we are starting a generation of "haters" that will go to all lengths to pass judgement on others - which in return leaves little time to worry about the judgement of ourselves.  I worry that my children will someday be faced with those same harsh criticisms if they are, in the eyes of society, different. 

This is simply my opinion which I felt led to share.  I am just a person striving to love Jesus with all my heart, mind, and soul.  I have struggled in every aspect of my life and I know firsthand how it feels to be unaccepted, unloved, even hated.  I am a mom who truly wants to try to change the world for my children and my peers.  I am a wife who is thankful that in the midst of what seems to be the highest divorce rate ever, my marriage is standing on solid ground.  I am a sinner, just as we all are, and I fall short of the glory of God every single day of my life ... but oh how he loves me anyway.  How we fills me with such pure joy and happiness that no words can describe.

I don't want to ever stand in the way of someone else getting the chance to experience that.

 We can bring alot more people to Christ by showing his love than we ever could by showing our hate or judgements.