Growing up on a farm we never raised chickens but we did
have a chicken coop and I hated it. Not
being crazy about dark, smelly, cobwebbed infested buildings added to my fear
and resolve to stay away from the coop.
Besides, if there had been chickens in the coop, why would I want to put
my life on the line to enter the coop with the sole purpose to snatch away the
offspring of an unsuspecting mother hen?
Just sounded like trouble to me!
The subject of this post could be similar to the dread of the coop in my
early years.
It’s amazing to me that there has been such “banter” back
and forth over the last month about another coop called Chick-fil-A. I’m not
that good at giving immediate, thoughtful, intelligent, and informed responses
and realize I need time for my brain to
process information.
Not being in the country and seeing all the media attention
about this I can only imagine most people are pretty tired of it. If that is you then don’t feel obligated to
continue reading, just surf away to another site.
Just the other day I was asked what my thoughts were
regarding the whole matter. To me the
first question I had to ask myself was: what good does it do to stand in line
for 2 plus hours to get a chicken sandwich?
How does that help with the underlying issue of the deep divide that
seems to be widening in our country between people who disagree? With that said I understand the need to stand
and make your voice heard when someone you side with is being treated without
respect. My question goes to a follow up
observation and it is this, sometimes we give our detractors added fodder to
chew up and spit back out at us. What
really was accomplished with this action besides many people standing in line
to eat another meal? How did this
advance the cause of Christ to a hurting, broken, desperate world? What would of happened in the media and to
some of the accusations from the opposition if people would have supported
Chick-fil-A on a given day but not so they could eat lunch but take the food to
homeless shelters, rescue missions, people in need, or someone who needed
encouraging?
I’m all for being bold and standing up for beliefs but let’s
get creative. Let’s act with the
intention to be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus to the world, not just take
a stand or seat at a restaurant, eat, and leave it at that. There is more at stake than this. I would like to propose that Christ Followers
and Churches begin thinking about how we can reach those who are seemingly on
the opposite side of the fence. We may
need to learn to dialogue in respectful ways to begin to understand. If we keep boycotting, protesting, and picking
sides it’ll only get uglier and continue to make our mission that much more
difficult.
What’s interesting about living out of the U.S. during this
time is that Facebook and Internet News gives us a good indication of what’s
really “hot” at the moment. It seems
that the issue has past and life has returned to “normal.” My question in regards to this whole issue is:
Now What? Let’s think, dream, envision,
and be strategic beyond the heat of the moment to bring “up there, down
here.” Besides, there’s a lot more
“chicken coop’s” that will present themselves in the future!
Something to think about,
Marty
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