Chick-fil-A Doesn’t Need to Apologize for Its Christian Roots
With roots going back 80 years, and with nearly 3,500 restaurants spread throughout 48 states, Chick-fil-A has been long established as an American fast-food institution.
The beloved Christian-owned company has also been occupying a lot of space in the minds of American media and liberal activist groups.
Over the years, the popular chain has been a source of frustration and irritation for individuals and organizations who either disagree with the chain’s founding principles or resent the chain’s unprecedented success.
Speaking with NBC’s “Today” anchor Craig Melvin on Wednesday, Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy was pressed about the company’s previous defense of the multi-millennia-old definition of marriage and family.
S. Truett Cathy, the company’s founder, who died in 2014 at the age of 93, once told reporters that you can’t effectively compartmentalize your personal and professional life.
“You can’t expect people to do well in their business if they’ve got problems at home,” he once said. He also stressed the importance of husbands and wives modeling a healthy relationship, noting, “Children will never believe in the covenant of marriage unless they see you living it with their own eyes.”
It was in 2013 when Truett turned the CEO responsibilities over to his son, Dan, who had been serving as company president since 2001. Given that his father, the company’s founder, held such Christian-inspired beliefs, it wasn’t a surprise when Dan affirmed similar convictions regarding the subject.
When asked about Chick-fil-A’s belief in the biblical definition of marriage, Dan replied, “Guilty as charged.” He then added, “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives … We don’t claim to be a Christian business, but as an organization we can operate on biblical principles.”
Across the years, those biblical principles have included the company’s emphasis on servant leadership (Mark 10:43-45), working diligently (Proverbs 22:29), properly stewarding resources (1 Cor. 4:2) and resting on the Lord’s Day by closing all restaurants on Sunday (Exodus 20:8-10).
During Wednesday’s interview, Andrew Cathy, who succeeded his father Dan in 2021, also stressed the company’s Christian commitment to serving everyone with dignity and respect.
When the NBC reporter pressed Cathy about its position on so-called LGBT “rights,” the fast-food CEO responded, “We’re focused on hospitality, serving great-tasting food and great service.”
Asked to respond to people who felt as though Chick-fil-A’s support for biblical principles were somehow off-putting and creating a hostile atmosphere, Cathy reiterated the chain’s loving and service-oriented philosophy.
“Everybody that’s willing to walk in the door, they’re welcome to come eat with us,” he said. “We would love to give them a great-tasting sandwich and great hospitality.”
Outlets like NBC are subtly but actively working to shame corporations and corporate executives into backtracking on previously stated social convictions.
Andrew Cathy held his ground. He told Melvin that CFA is “in business to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
For faithful Christians, glorifying God includes following His sacred Word. It means serving customers regardless of their ideological or theological differences.
Contrast Chick-fil-A’s service-with-a-smile policy with businesses or individuals who have refused to wait on people with whom they disagree.
After Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was White Housespokesperson at the time, was refused service at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, and asked to leave the building back in 2018 because of her work in the Trump administration, she gracefully reflected on the incident.
“America is a great country and our ability to find solutions despite those disagreements is what makes us unique.”
Chick-fil-A continues to thrive as a Christian-owned business because of its commitment to excellence and its ability to deliver a desired product in an inviting manner. It has also demonstrated that a for-profit enterprise in a pluralistic country doesn’t have to abandon its deeply held principles to compete. Faithful Christians can be successful business owners while also bearing a strong and faithful witness to the Word of God.
