“Always Appreciating And Positively
Promoting ChickFil-A Company's
Christ Centered Message Makes Followers Failures???”
Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher
Editors Note: Reddy's Rhetoric today is a rebuttal to
Matthew Turner's column, '5 Reasons Why
the Church Failed Yesterday!"
Always appreciating and positively promoting Chick Fil-A company’s Christ centered message makes
followers of Christ a failure is what those who are promoting
Matthew Turner's column, '5 Reasons Why the
Church Failed Yesterday'
want you to believe. Turner and those who support him have been
against actions of the church that flocked to Chick Fil A in massive numbers
for 'Chick Fil A Appreciation Day' on Aug 01, 2012.
I asked myself how would I
address the question about church, law, love, rallying around a
restaurant or cause if loving a law is seen as more important than
loving people?
If the law is meant to be God’s Word, then my wife and I hope and
pray we love God’s Word more than we love people because if we put
the love of people over the love of God’s Word first, we may as well
call ourselves secular humanists instead of followers of Christ.
Secular humanists follow the philosophy of humanism,
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human
rather than divine or supernatural matters by rejecting religious
beliefs.
The love of people should
never come at the expense of the love of God because if it does we
will succumb to the pressure of obeying man in the name of love more
than God. God never endorsed that.
On the contrary, the Bible
says, “We must obey God rather than men!”
(Acts 5:29)
“Anyone
who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;
anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me; and
anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. (Matthew 10:36-38)
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his
wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own
life—he cannot be my disciple. And
anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my
disciple. (Luke 14:26-27)
This means Jesus wants us to love God more than ourselves & other
people so we are not deceived into thinking
‘love your neighbor as yourself’
means loving them above God. God wants Him to be our first love!
With that do come commands that we need to follow to show that we
love God.
I wonder if Turner and all who support Turner's views about how the
church has failed would change their mind if they read the 'Letters
to the 7 Churches' given in Revelation by the Lord Jesus.
To different churches, Jesus did not address ‘how
the leaders did not love people’ but Jesus did address ‘how the
leaders did not love God above anyone or anything!'
To
the Church in Ephesus,
Jesus said,
“Yet I hold this against you: You have
forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have
fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not
repent, I will come to you and remove your
lampstand from
its place. But
you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the
Nicolaitans, which I also
hate.” (Revelation 2:4-7)
Do
you know the practices of the Nicolaitans which Jesus also hates?
The
practices of the Nicolaitans had to do with sexual immorality which
Jesus also hates.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus did not tell the church, ‘You hate
the Nicolaitans’?
Instead, by stating,
‘You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate’,
Jesus is commending the church for hating the PRACTICE of sexual
immorality not the immoral person. Jesus still wants the person to
be loved keeping with the commandment,
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’
without compromising on taking a stand against sexual immorality.
To the Church in Pergamum,
Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I have a few things
against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of
Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating
food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who
hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore!
Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth.”
(Revelation
2:14-16)
To the Church in Thyatira, Jesus said,
“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You
tolerate that woman Jezebel, who
calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants
into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
I have given her time to repent of
her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of
suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer
intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her
children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who
searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to
your deeds.
Now
I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will
not impose any other burden on you):Only hold on to what you have until
I come.” (Revelation 2:20-25)
"Will you think the Lord Jesus is not loving because He
spoke out against sexual immorality warning of judgment to come?'
If Jezebel felt hated because her actions were spoken out against,
does that mean the Lord Jesus did not love Jezebel anymore?
If we look at it through the views of Turner and those who support
his view, we would say 'YES'
because we would rationalize how can a loving God do that! In our
situation, we would rationalize how can a church allow something like Chick Fil A
Appreciation Day to happen.
But love is not bound by our worldly definition of love but God’s
definition of love in the same way that ‘Being good’ is not defined
by our worldly definition but by God’s definition of goodness to
which He says,
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who
understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,
not even one.!" (Romans 3:10-12)
Will
you stop sharing,
“No one is good, not one, all have fallen short of the glory of
God”(Romans 3:23),
if you think they will feel
hated because you tell them they are not good?
I hope not!
If you do, then you are once again following humanistic love and not
God’s love! There is no middle ground. Loving God’s way is
proclaiming the Truth by words or actions.
Jesus concludes the letters to the churches with this promise:
“ Those
whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So
be earnest, and repent. Here
I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in and
eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I
will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just
as I overcame and
sat down with my Father on his throne. He
who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:19-22)
Do you think the Lord Jesus would have been happy with the church if
it remained silent to this whole same-sex marriage - Chick Fil A
controversy?
In essence, what the Lord Jesus is saying is that loving others also involves
rebuke and discipline!
Yet, Turner and his supporters declared the church failed because
the act of supporting Chick Fil A that day involved a rebuke of the
LGBT community which was not love.
Turner goes on to write that if you
keep telling a person what they are doing is wrong, wrong, wrong
every time, how can they feel loved but only hated!
Then, what is love?
Is it tolerating any sin whatsoever so people do not feel hated?
Yet, this is the message that has come across by
Turner's promotion on why the church failed.
Did the Lord Jesus fail for speaking out for Truth in Revelation?
No!, because Jesus understands what the love He wants to spread
involves. It is not just a feel good, do what you want kind of love
but involves being upset over evil and rejoicing with the Truth.
Those rallying around Chick-Fil-A could have even rallied
because they rejoiced in the truth of the sanctity of marriage
wanting to show their support to Cathy while renouncing the evil of
same sex marriage because it is seen as a sin in God's eyes being
likened to sexual immorality.
“ Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (1
Corinthians 13:6)
Rejoicing in the Truth also means proclaiming there is judgment
without repentance for sexual immorality regardless whether it is
adultery, homosexuality, etc. It is not about being tolerant in
the name of love.
To the Church in Thyatira, Jesus said,
“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she
misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food
sacrificed to idol.
I have given her time to repent of
her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of
suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer
intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her
children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who
searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to
your deeds. Now
I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will
not impose any other burden on you):Only hold on to what you have until
I come.” (Revelation 2:20-25)
Is the media all over this letter to the Church in Thyatira because
Jesus made statements of judgment against the church for tolerating
sexual immorality?
Not one station reported on this letter in Revelation but the media,
LGBT community, and politicians have been pouncing on Cathy and
all those who support his view when he gave an interview to the
Baptist Press stating,
“we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation
when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to
what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our
generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks
we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”
Is this quote from a follower of Christ any different regarding
judgment then what the Lord Jesus wrote to the church in Thyatira?
Yet, the media, LGBT community, and politicians have demonized Cathy
for speaking up for the sanctity of marriage and against sexual
immorality. They have gone as far as promoting the boycott of Chick-Fil-A,
asking for the removal of Chick-Fil A from college campuses, or
denying a permit for them to exist until they change their views on
the sanctity of marriage.
So, when the church has come together to support one of their own
who spoke out against sexual immorality, the church has not failed.
If anything, it shows the church hating the practices that God
hates.
Sadly, those Christians who openly hate the practices of sexual
immorality are seen as hating gay people when they speak out against
gay marriage, rally around a cause, etc.
By hating the sexual practices of the LGBT community does not mean we hate
the LGBT community itself. There is a difference here between
practice and person.
The only way we can be true to hating the practice and loving the
person is to love God & His Word more than any person! A church
that does this has not forsaken its first love or failed as some
want you to believe.
On the contrary, the church has obeyed Jesus' teaching to
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest
commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)
There is a reason this is the first and greatest commandment because
it puts loving God above everything else. Living in a secular
humanist society bombarded by a predominately anti-Christian media,
downplays this love compared to the love of humanity.
But true love of humanity can only happen when we follow God’s Word
and love Him above everything.
That is why
“Love your neighbor as yourself”
is a follow-up command only after we keep the first commandment.
This commandment hinges on us loving God first and foremost before
loving man.
It is also very, very interesting that Jesus’
Great Commission to the disciples involved discipleship, baptism,
teaching, and obedience.
Jesus knew the only way to truly love
is disciple the world in the teachings and obedience of the Lord.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-19)
But sadly, in the name of love many want to ignore Jesus words,
‘teaching them to obey everything, I have commanded you’
and make the second commandment triumph over the first commandment
of loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul.
In the process, Turner wants us to believe that as a church we have
failed if we rally around a cause that is biblical such as
supporting a follower of Christ whose been standing on God’s Word to
endorse the sanctity of marriage between male and female only.
Just because my wife and I have rallied around Cathy’s company,
which to us represents the values of the Kingdom that Cathy has
espoused, does not mean we hate gay people. By showing support to
Chick-Fil-A, we took a stand with thousands to show Cathy that there
are people like him who will stand for biblical values such as the
sanctity of marriage.
No one I know used that day to show hatred towards gay people.
It is totally unfair for Turner to assert that thousands of
Christians who rallied to Chick Fil-A on Chick Fil-A Appreciation
Day don't love gay people because they went to show support for the
company's values!
Turner wants you and I to believe that those who stayed silent at
homes or spoke out against Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day were the
ones who really love gay people. Sadly, to him the church cannot be
put in that category of loving gay people because the church stood
against the practices of gay people! How sad!
Showing support for Cathy who was being persecuted for his stance on
biblical values does not imply hate towards the LGBT community.
I asked myself, if it does not imply hate towards the LGBT
community, how do I respond to those who tell me that the LGBT
community feels hated?
When a parent supports one child who is going on the right path but
disapproves & speaks out against another child who is going on the wrong path does not
mean the parent loves the first child and hates the second child.
If a non-parent supports a child with whom they agree but
disapproves & speaks out against a child that they do not agree
with, because the child is going on the wrong path, does not mean
the non-parent hates the child.
Even if the second child feels hated because the parent disapproves
and speaks against the child’s actions over and over again should not be a reason to say the parent
or non-parent has failed to love the child or state the parent or
non-parent is at fault for the child feeling hated.
In the same way, the church has a responsibility to hate the
practices of the sexually immoral BUT love the people. This can only
happen when we put the love of God above the love of people!
Hating the practices does not mean silence! No one should even
expect followers of Christ not to hate the practices of sexual
immorality just because the sexually immoral will then feel unloved.
A lot of times, human beings sadly equate being approved of
synonymously with being loved and being disapproved of synonymously
with being hated. This is the situation we are in with the LGBT
community where many feel they are hated by followers of Christ
because of their stance on marriage and support for people like
Cathy & Chick Fil-A.
This is far from the truth because anyone who says they love God and
His Word more than people will love the LGBT community too as God wants them
loved. This is not by approving of their actions or staying silent
when their actions are being promoted against God’s Word. But by
praying for them and leading them to the Truth.
It is not up to us to fear man over God when we are moved to speak
the Truth in love!
"Fear of man is a dangerous trap but to trust in God means safety!"
(Proverbs 29:25)
I did not see the Christian solidarity at Chick Fil A restaurants
all across the nation as hatred towards the LGBT community but love
towards supporting what God stands for.
You can love the sinner and hate the sin. Because we hate the sin of
gay marriage and homosexuality and want to support companies or
programs that strengthen the sanctity of marriage between male and
female should never be seen as hatred towards gay people.
If gay people feel hated, it is wrong for Turner to blame people like my wife,
myself, and thousands who gathered to support Chick-Fil-A. It is
even wrong to ridicule Pastor Mike Huckabee for promoting ‘Chick Fil-A
Appreciation Day’ when the purpose was to support Cathy’s statements
regarding marriage and avoid any boycott losses.
As Christians by staying silent, we would have implicitly said,
“Cathy, you fend for yourself alone because we don’t want to get
involved”
But when Christians take a simple stand by buying at ‘Chick Fil A’
to support biblical values, they are seen as a failure.
How sad!!!
Now imagine as a follower of Christ, you own a company like Chick
Fil A’ and share your faith in Christ including your views on the
sanctity of marriage just as Cathy shared. Now, you hear a firestorm
of comments about how much people should boycott your company
because you put God’s love above man’s love.
How would you be feeling?
Would you hope God sends support your way and strengthens you to
continue to stand on God’s Word?
Would you want a sign showing what you did was not wrong?
Would you be feeling like Elijah of the Bible?
“Elijah
went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between
two opinions? If the Lord is
God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him. ”But the people
said nothing. Then
Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s
prophets left, but
Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.” (1 Kings 18:21-22)
How do you think you would have felt, if the
anti-Christian
liberal media storm of 450+ was waging war against you for supporting the
values of the Kingdom?
Elijah was feeling depressed and wanted to
die because he felt like he was promoting a lost cause and
replied,
“I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down
your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the
only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings
19:14)
If you were standing up for Truth, would you feel like you are all
alone when those who oppose you are trying to kill you through
character assassination, etc?
When I write from a biblical perspective any
article and the only responses I get publicly are opposition while
those who agree with me remain silent publicly without responding, I
do feel that way but God strengthens me and motivates me to keep
writing to influence the campuses, counties, cities, countries, and
continents of the world.
Elijah did not think to himself, ‘Let me love the practices of Baal
or the people will feel hated’. On the contrary, he stood up for
what is right and was threatened.
God saw how troubled Elijah was to the point of death and came to
his rescue reminding him that he is not the only one following God
but there are others who believe in the same way too.
“Yet
I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed
down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings
19:18)
Wow! God was telling Elijah that he is not alone and will have the
backing of God’s people against Baal! God never reasoned, ‘But what
if my prophet’s actions will not make the worshippers of Baal feel
loved’. On the contrary a loving God knows love without truth is not
love at all.
If Elijah saw support for his cause, he would have known he was not
alone but he did not see support for the cause. However, he
is encouraged by the Lord to remember there are thousands like him
who have not bowed down to Baal.
Again, when
I have written or spoken what I knew to be Truth from God’s
Word, I have wished that I had the support of the church to stand up
with me without leaving me alone to fend for myself. But, it is very
rare that I do get public support for my writings so it was
refreshing to see the support the church gave Cathy on Chick Fil A
Appreciation day!
Is it not conceivable that God could have used followers of Christ
to rally around Cathy & Chick Fil A to show Cathy a sign that he is
not alone and there are like-minded people who think like him?
"Was
it wrong for followers of Christ to be zealous for the LORD and
promote the sanctity of marriage by supporting Chick-Fil A with
their presence and profits for Chick Fil-A appreciation day?"
If so, is it then right for Turner to promote that followers of Christ have
failed by showing support to Chick Fil A’ and Cathy?
Jesus said,
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that
it hated me first" (John 15:18)
Jesus continued to state,
"If
you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is,
you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember
the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master. ’If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you also. If they
obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you
this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent
me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty
of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who
hates me hates my Father as well.” (John 15:19-23)
Jesus did not compartmentalize sin and love into two different
categories but spoke of them concurrently.
In John 15:17,
Jesus said, “This is my command: Love each other!”
Jesus did not say love each other meant ‘not addressing the practice
of sin’. On the contrary, Jesus said,
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of
sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates
me hates my Father as well.” (John 15:22-23)
Jesus wants us to love others even if they will hate us
for speaking out and against sin. But Jesus never said this should
be done in silence without standing up for the Truth of God's Word!
When there is hatred towards us or there is a sense of being hated
by us because of the teachings we support and proclaim from God’s Word
that should not stop us from Living the Truth and Proclaiming the
Truth in love. When we do that, it is important to remember that we
are not hated for our ignorance, but because we stand for Truth.
I strongly believe the LGBT community feeling
hated by the church is mostly
a perception put out by an anti-Christian
liberal media who want to portray the church as haters.
We should not fault the church by accusing them of
not having love when they showed up in mass numbers to support Chick
Fil-A.
The sad fact of the matter is that the liberal
media has and will continue to portray Evangelical Christians as
haters. This happened in the past and will continue in the present.
Let me share a personal story of my experience with the LGBT community.
When I wrote a column for the Pitt News called,
“With love,
homosexuality can be cured!”, it was a message of love and not hate.
If anything, I was the one hated for proclaiming that message to the
point that anti-Ramesh columns were being published for days.
Usually letters to the editor would suffice but I had broken the
record for the number of letters the Pitt News received. My
colleague columnists did not want to remain silent to my biblical
view and so wrote counter-columns that were anti-Ramesh in nature.
Few of them were directly attacking me in the columns with phrases
such as 'The Indian Fella with Da Bible....', 'Those Vangies- term
to say Evangelical Christian'. But, I was willing to stand on
the promises and teachings of God by standing firm and continued to
proclaim Evangelical messages in my writings. I did
that for three more years until I started writing for Pittsburgh
Standard.
Because of the persecution that I faced, student leaders of
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship supported by their senior staff
worker, decided to act. Just like Pastor Huckabee spearheaded the
‘Chick Fil A Appreciation Day’, the daughter of a pastor spearheaded
‘Homosexuality and Christianity: Is there a compromise?: Ramesh C.
Reddy, Pitt News Columnist Against Homosexuality vs. Michael Mazza,
Phd, Pitt News Columnist For Homosexuality!”
A panel discussion was promoted in the community in the hopes to make people see
that homosexuality was wrong from a Christian perspective and a
biblical perspective.
We had a dialogue discussion from both sides which was attended by 7
Pitt News Columnists, the campus and Pittsburgh community. But the success of
the meeting was not in the overflow of the room’s capacity or even
the dialogues BUT when the LGBT community in front of the liberal
columnists declared, “We don’t agree with Ramesh on what he
wrote or says, but we know he loves us, he even hugs us!”
Why would the LGBT community emphasize that at a meeting that was
geared towards the support of biblical values?
It was because they did not feel hated but loved even though they
were spoken out against in their acts of sexual immorality.
It is very important for me to remember if we do
actions that are contrary to the Word of God but are supported in
those actions by the church in the name of loving people, we actually do a
disservice to those that we say we love.
When people are supported, it is very rare that
people change their ways because they have the support of a
community and are not at a place where they can really examine their
lives in the light of Scripture. You have to fall down and sometimes
hit bottom before you can get up.
But, if people are against the actions of a person
or group and reveal that in love, it puts the person or community
all alone but also gives them the opportunity to forsake their ways
and join the new community of love that is against practices of
sexual immorality. This will not always happen right way but it will
happen.
Speaking from experience, I can tell you that when
I was removed from a ministry position, I felt ostracized and shame
because of what happened to me. That in turn did help me to change
my ways with the help of the Lord and join a new community.
If the organization has thought to itself,
"Regardless of Ramesh's sin we cannot remove him from ministry
because he will feel hated by us", they would have kept me to my own
hindrance and well being.
I still remember the words of my supervisor who
told me,
"I don't care if the ministry goes under but we are not going to
let you lead it because you are more important to us than the
ministry. We need you to have a course of change in your life that
should involve consistently being part of a Bible believing church, being part of a community,
and being mentored by a pastor. All these things have not happened.
We believe the sin of pride wanting your own way is also a
result of that! So we have to dismiss you!"
Now imagine if I was supported by them, even in
my sin, in the name of love, what would have happened?
I would have been where I was! The Chick Fil-A
rally could be seen as an implicit way of telling the LGBT community
that their actions are not approved when seen in the Light of Truth
for their own good.
The church of the Corinthians was faced with
addressing a sexual immorality situation but the congregation
was proud without grief. They let it go on and were implicitly
supportive of a particular sexual immorality in the same way many
churches allow the practice of homosexuality to be condoned by
ordaining gay bishops, etc.
The Lord was not happy about it and addressed how
that situation should be dealt with in the hopes of restoring the
man in the future but also to make a point on how a church should
react to sin.
"It
is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and
of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his
father’s wife. And
you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and
have put out of your fellowship the
man who did this?...
I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I
were present. When
you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and
I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand
this man over to
Satan, so
that the sinful nature
may
be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." (1
Corinthians 5:1-5)
This passage is to make the point that a
supportive environment for sin is not the answer when it can only
make them go deeper. The Lord did not say, 'if you put this man out
of your fellowship, he will be hated and won't come back!'
On the contrary, the Lord said,
'Hand this man over to
Satan, so
that the sinful nature
may
be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." (1
Corinthians 5:5)
Would you say the
Corinthian church would have failed for standing up against sexual
immorality because the actions would have seemed harsh to the man?
You cannot conclude anything else if you agree with Turner on why
the church failed when they supported Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day!
Failure should not be seen through man's eyes but what God's eyes
say about success His way!
I never stopped Living the Truth or Proclaiming the Truth fearing
the LGBT community would feel hated because I knew in time, they
would come to know that they are loved.
Don't be influenced by liberal media publications
that portray the LGBT community as victims and the church as the
victimizers.
What reason should I or any follower of Christ have to promote the
sanctity of marriage especially if we are labeled as ‘gay haters’,
‘ignorant’, and ‘church failures’ but we do it because of our love
for Christ and His Word!
For argument sake, let us assume that the LGBT community feels hated
by the church because of the support Chick Fil-A got for standing up
for biblical values.
Do we stop Living the Truth and Proclaiming the Truth in love
because we want to love people more than God?
Of course not!
What would Turner and those who support Turner think about this
analogy:
It would be like a son from a prestigious Hindu family who had
decided to give His life to Christ when Christ revealed Himself as,
“I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life! No man comes to the Father
except through me!” (John 14:6)
Because of Christ’s teachings on man, God, sin, redemption, and
eternal life that is offered at the cross where Christ’s precious
blood was shed for the remission of sin, the son becomes a follower
of Christ.
The son does not hate his father or mother but the parents feel
hated because the son tells them they are wrong. Not only that but
they feel hated thinking how can their son who they raised in love renounce
Hinduism. Because he renounced Hinduism for the Absolute Truth in Christ, the
parents feel hated.
Because the parents feel hated, the son thinks he needs to make his
parents feel loved by him and knows there is only one course of
action which is to renounce Christ and revert back to Hinduism for
the sake of his parents feeling loved.
The son decides to love his mother and father more than the God He
came to believe in and support for the sake of them feeling loved.
D o you believe the son did the right thing in
renouncing his faith in Christ and the teachings of Christ so that
his parents don't feel hated by him?
Followers of Christ would say the son was definitely wrong in
renouncing Christ for his parent's sake!
Yet, it is so sad when it comes to myself, my wife, and thousands of
followers of Christ, who
supported Chick Fil A Appreciation Day as a support for what Cathy
stood for regarding biblical values, we are being condemned and labeled a collective failure
for not renouncing our support for that day.
The church remaining silent should not be the answer so the LGBT
community does not feel hated. Neither was the son renouncing his
faith in Christ the answer so his parents would not feel hated.
The son should have continued to be a follower of Christ expressing
the love of Christ to his parents even though they felt hurt and
hated by him for converting to Christianity. The church should
continue to support Chick Fil-A for the values of the Kingdom that
it espouses and at the same time show deep love for the LGBT
community God’s way!
One day the LGBT community will come to realize again that they are
not hated by followers of Christ but loved and prayed for.
Supporting Christ does not mean we hate the LGBT community. We can
love them both. We can hate the practice of sin and love the sinner
as we love God more than anyone else.
Cathy never prayed for the condemnation of gay people or those who
support gay marriage but prayed for God’s mercy on a generation that
thinks they know better than God. There is nothing wrong with that.
He even issued a statement once saying,
“In recent weeks, we have
been accused of being anti-gay. We have no agenda against anyone. At
the heart and soul of our company, we are a family business that
serves and values all people regardless of their beliefs or
opinions. While my family and I believe in the Biblical definition
of marriage, we love and respect anyone who disagrees. At Chick-Fil-A,
we have a heart for helping marriages because we know marriage can
be difficult at times.”
It is those that love others who pray for God’s mercy instead of
God’s judgment.
My wife and I are proud to have supported Chick-Fil A company’s
Christ centered message by giving our business to them on ‘Chick Fil
A Appreciation Day’ and other days because of the company’s Christ
centered beliefs especially when it comes to the sanctity of
marriage. We were not going to sit idle at home!
As the church we need to ask ourselves whether we will succumb to
the label of failure for supporting a biblical cause or will we
stand our ground in continuing our message of support for the
biblical cause?
It is my hope that our understanding of love is not corrupted by the
world’s values and we will not lean on to our own understanding but
claim and hold on to God’s promise when He says,
”Trust in the Lord
and lean not on your own understanding! In all your ways,
acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths and crown your efforts
with success!” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Reddy’s Rhetoric takes you into the world of
the church examining whether the church failed while it supported
Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day! We highly think not! What do you think
after reading the rebuttal to Matthew Turner's column?
Express Your
View
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