Choose Love

By Bryan this time:

I think the current Chick-fil-A situation is very interesting. Dan Cathy, the President of Chick-fil-A recently made statements supporting “the biblical definition of the family unit.” “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives.” When asked about Chick-fil-A’s backing of families led by a man and a woman, his response was, “Guilty as charged.”

This has created a firestorm of controversy where at least two major cities now plan (to attempt, anyway) to block the approval of new locations. On the other side, about 250,000 people have signed up on Facebook for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.

Mr. Cathy claims to be a Christian and, I assume, would encourage others to make the same decision. So I have one question. Do his comments make it more likely or less likely that people will become followers of Christ? This whole situation reminds me of a statement that I’ve heard numerous times in Christian circles. “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Sounds great, right? The problem is that I haven’t observed or even heard of many situations where that actually happens. And there are even fewer situations where non-Christians perceive this double-sided attitude the way it is intended. If you disagree with me, I would simply ask if you’ve ever had a conversation with a homosexual on the topic. 

So if we Christians aren’t very good at the whole “Love the sinner, hate the sin” thing, I say we pick one and concentrate on that. So… which one to choose, love or hate? Or better stated which one would Christ choose, love or hate. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Christ came down on the side of love the first time he was here. Back then, the religious people complained constantly that he was hanging around “sinners” too much.

Since it is our desire that everyone, including gays, come to faith in Christ, they get to set the rules. If we say, “I support the traditional family,” and they hear, “I hate gay people,” that’s OUR problem, not theirs. I think this is where Cathy, and a lot of other people are going wrong. The attitude isn’t about love. This Chick-fil-A Day isn’t about emphasizing Christians love for gay people. It’s about Christians circling the wagons, and in doing so, proving the point of all the detractors.

So when it comes to homosexuals, or everyone for that matter, I’m going to choose love. And I’d encourage you to do the same. I would also encourage you to remind me to love when I forget.