I'd Like Some Waffle Fries, But Hold the Culture Wars, Please!

It was an amazing story within an amazing story.  Chic-Fil-A president Dan Cathy speaks out in favor of traditional marriage.  Big city mayors and a host of enraged people are aghast.  Then as an afterthought, a minor TV personality talks up support of Chic-Fil-A and before you know it lines of people are out the door and down the block.  Let’s stand up for marriage with a side order of waffle fries!  In an instant, a skirmish in the culture wars had erupted all across the nation as a TV news battle. 

By the way, I was in line that day.  I’m a huge fan of Chic-Fil-A – their service, their business model, their remarkable care of their employess, their convictions AND their waffle fries.  But I digress.

In a backlash to the backlash a number of people then rose up to protest the protests of the protests of Mr. Cathy’s original statement.  These protestors – thrice removed – aimed to disrupt the support for Chick-Fil-A as a corporate purveyor of hate and all things un-American.

One of those people was Adam Smith.  Mr. Smith is married with kids in Phoenix, AZ.  He was adjunct faculty at the University and Chief Financial Officer for a large pharmacuetical company.  He had the revolutionary idea to disrupt “Support Chic-Fil-A Day” by ordering some free water in the drive-thru and giving a piece of his mind to the worker there.  As if a shout at her would intimidate Mr. Cathy?  As an expression of solidarity, Mr. Smith even had the foresight to video the entire episode and post it to You-Tube.  How different things look in the light of day.  You can watch the episode for yourself.

Now believe it or not, I’m not anxious to join the culture wars or heap my own humiliation on Mr. Smith.  He put both the event and his apology out there for all to see so it is public record.  What I do think could be helpful is to step back from the culture war energy and look at this through “Gospel Eyes.”  Here goes .  .  .

How does the gospel shape our understanding of and response to this incident?

The Heart Beneath The Behavior – Do we see bad behavior here?  Sure, we do.  Is that sort of behavior a “sin?”  Yes, again.  Beating up on a drive-through worker is awful.  No one was more aware of that after some reflection than Mr. Smith himself.  But the Gospel calls us to look deeper than the behavior.  Look to the heart, the source of the behavior.

To the extent that we can discern, what could the attitude of Mr. Smith’s heart be?  I’d start with self-righteousness.  Mr. Smith was so certain of the rightness of his cause and himself with it, that he is energized to act in ways that he would usually not.  He sees a group of college students and is sure that they are there for a sit-in.  “It just makes sense.”  He spoke of the purpose that his free water antics gave him.  And just to make sure that no one could accuse him of personal gain, he made clear that he himself was not gay.  His cause was so right!  So right, that anything done in the name of his cause was justifiable.  Scary to think about.

I’m Just As Big A Sinner – Hmmmmmm.  A heart of self-righteousness.  I’m guessing that plenty of church people could find that in themselves.  It’s just a hunch, but I’m guessing that many gays feel like they are treated by conservative church people just like Rachel was treated by Mr. Smith.  Just as demeaned.  Just as condescended to.  Treated like an enemy of some vague threat rather than a person.   I can find myself feeling about biblical marriage in much the same way and with similar intensity as Mr. Smith felt for gay marriage.  How do I find myself speaking of gay marriage proponents?  What does that show me of my own heart?

The Gospel helped me see that many of my own off-putting behaviors were expressions of my own self-righteousness.

Here’s an idea:  Maybe Jesus gave His life to rescue all people – gay marriage supporters and traditional marriage supporters – from their self-righteousness.  Consider that perhaps self-righteousness in support of any cause is idolatry and will lead to all sorts of behaviors like demeaning drive-thru workers and crude gay jokes.

Because Of The Sin In Our Hearts, We Are All Prone To Behaviors That Betray Our Ideals - Click Here to see Adam Smith’s apology to Rachel that would follow a few days later.  It is striking to me the depth of Mr. Smith’s remorse and honest embarrassment at his own behavior.  Regardless of the consequences, he is struggling to come to grips with his own behavior and the way it betrayed his own highest ideals.  He found himself becoming an example of what he was opposing and seems to be struggling to understand “why?”

Sin is like that.  It seems so right when we first bite the apple, or gossip or take a snort or advance our own standing at the cost of someone else.  But soon it takes over and drives us to all sorts of lonely and dangerous places we would not choose to go.

Sadly, far too many conservative church people have lost any sense of remorse at their own behaviors growing from their own self-righteousness. 

As for Mr. Smith, I don’t want to see him as an enemy in the culture wars.  Or even as a potential convert to my side in those wars.

First and foremost, the Gospel helps me see that he and I both live in desperate need of a Rescuer.  Beyond our behaviors, our self-righteous hearts are more similar than different.  We’re self-righteous about different things perhaps, but still both broken.

To make this drive-thru encounter into a battle in the culture wars is to miss God’s point.  That’s why I’m not ready to draw the lines, martial the troops, pass out the signs and relive the ‘80’s.  This time around, I’ve got a hope for Mr. Smith that makes a difference, because it has made a difference in my own life.  Beneath the behaviors is a heart in need of transformation.  And for that, we have the Gospel.