But I stumbled upon an article that I really wanted to share.
5 Reasons Why the Church Failed Yesterday by Matthew Turner
It speaks so much to how I feel about Wednesday's "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day." As I saw many of my friends posting pictures of their meals and many other friends posting about the hurt and confusion, I kept asking myself "what is this all really for?"
For me, this post and sharing this article isn't about our views on homosexuality or gay marriage, it's not about our views on free speech, it's not about why this day was created, or why people did or didn't go to Chick-Fil-A.
For me, it's about how our actions as Christians are and can be perceived. What messages we send through our tweets and Facebook statuses. How we use our voices and what we use our voices to spread.
A friend of mine on Facebook recently shared a photo of a long Chick-Fil-A line with a caption "You'd never see that many Christians lined up to help at a food bank or homeless shelter and that's something Jesus actually said to do."
Those words sting to the core.
Christians line up every day to help people all across the world. They make huge sacrifices. Their big and little efforts to share God's love and grace are felt globally and in radically important ways.
And it hurts that my faith seems to be viewed like the above picture.
This is my favorite quote from the article and I just want to shout it from the rooftops:
"Once in a while, our culture needs to be surprised by how much we (Christians) love people–all people. Once in a while, our culture needs to be overwhelmed with joy that we are involved in the greater story. Once in a while, our culture needs to see us being a part of the solution and not the problem. But yesterday? There were no surprises. And no surprises only builds more distrust, not peace, not grace, not hope, and not love."
I've been following along with some of the comments on the above article. One comment in particular questions the authors thoughts on causes. The author states that "it's impossible to follow Jesus when issues trump people." While I don't want to debate the validity or worthwhile-ness of Wednesdays cause, it does get me thinking.
Where we place our time and energy matters. The causes that we stand up for say something about us, something big and loud. Do we like what they are saying?
So there you have it, my little tip-toe into the world of religion-meets-politics.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Again, not on our views on homosexuality or free speech or whether or not we went to Chick-Fil-A or stayed away. But instead, on how we can use our voices, as Jesus did, to spread real, Christ-filled love and the truth of a greater story.
What an interesting take. Particularly the part about food banks and helping others. I am not particularly religious, and I think the main reason is that those Christians who I have come in contact with are often so judgmental. And in my opinion, Jesus would be spending time with the people that those judgemenetal folks condemn and write off. How sad. Just my two cents.
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