In the fall of 1972 my oldest brother went off to college. To pay his way through school he got a job at a fast food restaurant in Greenbriar mall and so I was introduced to Chick-fil-A. Two years later my second brother attending the same college went to work at the same unit and when I entered college I followed suit. While I was in college I occasionally attended Jimmy Collin’s Sunday School Class, he was the VP at Chick-fil-A. When I was a newly wed I was a bi-vocational minister and worked at the Chick-fil-A headquarters as a courier. I met Truette, Dan, Bubba among others and ran errands for every floor of the brand new corporate headquarters. When Chick-fil-A was market testing waffle fries I was one of the people who ran down to Shannon Mall and picked up samples to bring back to the office. I was Doodles the chicken before the Cows came along. When our kids were little we planned a family vacation just to visit the headquarters. After my son was born the first thing my wife told me to do was go get her a Chick-fil-A sandwich. I bought at least one Chick-fil-A calendar every year up till the last year, when they were not very good values. (Was this a precursor?) All four of my kids got their first job at Chick-fil-A. When there was a “boycott Chick-fil-A day” organized by LBGT groups I ate there twice that day. I was faithful to Chick-fil-A even when they discontinued the carrot raisin salad, the wonderful chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast and the Chicken-Q sandwich. My A-club membership number, which was what they used before the app, is 531. To support a local charity I held a book signing at our local Chick-fil-A. When I say I am a long time Chick-fil-A supporter I know of what I speak.
Chick-fil-A has long traded on and built itself with a good name within and support of the Christian community. This week we find that Chick-fil-A will no longer support two organizations that have a strict position on marriage. It seems that the pressure got to Chick-fil-A and they caved. Allow me to quote from an article from thetakeout.com, a website that reports on the fast serve food industry. “Executives felt that this (good food, good service and community influence) was being overshadowed by its reputation for supporting homophobia. Rodney Bullard, the head of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, told Business Insider that the company wanted to focus on non-religious youth programs that were “relevant and impactful in the community. For us, that’s a much higher calling than any political or cultural war that’s being waged.” https://thetakeout.com/chickfila-ends-lgbt-donations-salvation-army-fca-1839940460
To be sure they have sold out the determined loyalty of some of their most faithful customers in an attempt to curry favor with progressives and expand their sales opportunity in places where they have been barred. Smart people sometimes make really bad decisions. (On this subject I highly recommend the book Think Again by Sydney Finkelstein, Jo Whitehead and Andrew Campbell.) The top floor at Chick-fil-A is going to be disappointed by the results of this move. LGBT proponents have described this as the move of a pawn. The camel has its nose in the Chick-fil-A tent and is going to want more. Allison Hope of CNN wrote: “I'm a lesbian with a long history of activism. I know firsthand that protests work to get attention when nothing else does, and then you shove your hand in the slightly open door that's been locked for years, and you shake the slimy hand on the other side.” What did Chick-fil-A gain? Not much! What did they lose? A lot! Maybe their very core character.
When I worked at the corporate office on Buffington Rd we had weekly devotions and prayer time. At the time Chick-fil-A was considering expanding into Japan. A number of executives went on a trip to discuss if this could be a new market. I vividly remember seeing the special-ordered business cards with the Chick-fil-A logo and everything else in Japanese. Later, in one of our devotions’ sessions it was reported that Chick-fil-A would not pursue opening in Japan. The speaker, Dan Cathy if I remember correctly, said, “We do not want to be unequally yoked; we will not trade what we believe for money.” I cannot tell you how proud I was of Chick-fil-A at that moment. I can only tell you I am that ashamed right now.
Some will say, “It is just a business decision. The kind made by Wal-mart, Starbucks, or GM.” That is true. But those companies don’t trade on the name of Christ. I believe it is just a business decision for Chick-fil-A. Just like the business decision I made yesterday when I drove past three Chick-fil-As (all of which I have patronized before) to go to Pop Eye’s to get a chicken sandwich. Which by the way tasted better and came with a more generous serving of fries.
I am a strong advocate of engaging LGBT individuals with the good news of the Gospel. But to cave to the pressure of special interest and punish organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the sake of trying to hide from your heritage or win market share is beneath the Chick-fil-A I have known and loved for almost 50 years.
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