Thank God for Freedom of Speech

There are many opinions out there on this whole Chick-Fil-A "scandal." I decided it was time to form an opinion of my own. Personally, I don’t even like Chick-Fil-A. Their chicken isn’t very good. My picky eating aside, if I liked their food, I would still eat there. I think there are a lot of judgmental people out there in the world, including myself at times, but I think its absolutely absurd that this big of a deal and so much hate from both sides is coming out of this. I am truly disappointed in a lot of the Christians who are also showing so much hate for the people who are boycotting and speaking out against Chick-Fil-A. That is not who we are called to be.

As Americans, we have freedom of speech. We are so fortunate to have the freedoms that we have. There are many places where people are put to death for their beliefs....both for being homosexual and for being Christian. Neither group is free from discrimination.

First of all, Mr. Cathy said that he does not support same sex marriage. Big surprise...he is a publicly proclaimed Christian and the restaurant isn’t open on Sunday. He never said that he hated homosexual people or believed that they should be condemned. There are plenty of people out there who do not support same sex marriage, myself included. I fully believe that God designed marriage as being between a man and a woman. Now, after knowing that, feel free to delete me as your friend in effort to boycott.

Some are saying that Mr. Cathy's opinions are politically incorrect... Isn't it politically incorrect not to allow him the freedom of speech to say what he believes? Some are saying that Chick-Fil-A is intolerant....isn't it intolerant not to allow one man and his company their opinions? The second we stop letting people have freedom of speech or the freedom to have their own opinions...that’s when we are being intolerant and politically incorrect. Dan Cathy put it perfectly himself when he said “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."

No one is perfect. Not Christians. Not Non-Christians. Not straight people. Not gay people.

We are called to radically love all people. Does that mean I have to agree with how everyone lives their lives? No. And I know there are plenty of people who do not agree with how I live my life. That’s what makes life so interesting. We are all different with different opinions, but not one of us is perfect. I don’t discriminate against gay people because of their sin. I have sin of my own so that would be hypocritical. I think we are all far too concerned with the sins that we do not struggle with. I think Christians often sign off on homosexuals and act as though they have no hope of heaven and do not deserve the love that we are called to show everyone. What if we acted like that with people who lie? a.k.a. everyone. As I have said before, God has made us all so unique that we even all have our own unique idols and sins that we struggle with.

Here are two passages to consider:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

⁹ Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men^{[a] 10} nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 5: 1-6

5 ¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater —has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.^{[a] 6} Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

I can definitely say that I am guilty of more than one of the things listed above. Its a really good thing that we have Christ to intervene on judgment day and advocate for us so God forgives us for all of the crap that we do.

Do we have to be supportive of the things we do not agree with? Definitely not. But, do we have to make such a big fuss of one company who is standing up for what they believe? No. I guarantee you there would be a lot more boycotting going on if more people would stand up for what they believe. We do business with people we agree with and disagree with on a daily basis. It is only when a business steps on our hot button issue that people get bent all out of shape. I'm sure many people would be surprised to find how many businesses that they love, support something that they don’t.

Rick Warren put it perfectly- “Our culture has accepted two huge lies: The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

So my point? Be kind and love one another. That is what we are called to do. Be tolerant of others and don’t judge them. You don’t know what is truly going on in their hearts. Let people have their opinions. Just because you don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean you can hate them. As Christians, let's be tolerant of others and their opinions and just love them. That is how we will show them a true depiction of Christ.