The Chick-fil-a Dilemma: Supporting Businesses on Sunday

Thinking out loud

I’m going to say right up front that this is a “thinking out loud” type of post in which I share some thoughts knocking around in my head and hope to get feedback that helps shape those thoughts.

The topic, as the title reveals: should Christians avoid patronizing businesses on Sunday?

I’ll get ahead of three questions now:

1) “Are you saying Sunday has replaced the Sabbath and is subject to Sabbath restrictions?” No.

2) “Are you saying it’s a sin to go eat chips and salsa after church?” No. Unless there’s a verse I can give you that clearly defines some action as a sin, “Is it a sin?” and “Do I have to?” are the wrong questions to ask. The questions to ask are “What is pleasing to God?” and “What would be most consistent with the Scriptural principles by which I strive to live?”

3) What about hospitals and other essential services? As always, we can let obvious exceptions be obvious exceptions.

Having made those stipulations, let’s consider two points many Christians already agree on and then see where they lead.

First, Chick-fil-a has a near-universal approval rating from churchgoers for the company’s Sunday policy (though their past stands on Biblical marriage also remain a feather in their cap for some). “They put God first and they make more money in 6 days than a lot of other restaurants do in 6!” you’ll often hear.

It’s a bit strange, then, that many Christians both praise Chick-fil-a for closing and yet in turn go support all the restaurants that don’t let their employees have Sunday off.

Second, with regard to sports on Sunday mornings, many have rightly remarked that if the first time the local league scheduled a Sunday morning game all the churchgoing parents had said, “then we won’t be there,” Sunday youth sports may have never gotten off the ground.

And while we can’t rewind that development now, we still exhort parents to draw their own line and refuse to miss worship. Even if the game goes on without us, at the very least we can say it wasn’t because we gave our approval.

So, putting those two things together, the local burger joint might make their employees clock in at 9:30 without my patronage, but at least I can say it wasn’t in any part because of me.

Obviously this opens up other questions like, “Should we take the whole day, or are afternoon/evening activities okay?” It also would follow that it isn’t just about local business—things like watching our favorite football teams would also apply.

But as difficult as it would be to give up, it’s worth considering whether Christians’ casual acceptance of Sunday football opened the door for the sport to become one of our new national religions.

As Sunday is not the Sabbath, but rather Jesus is the Christian’s Sabbath (Hebrews 4), we don’t have to call it the day of rest. On the other hand, the day of rest wasn’t an Old Law invention but a part of creation order (Genesis 2:2). Taking time to slow down, worship God, enjoy family, and set aside the modern hustle and bustle is a blessing. There’s a reason why Christians who have lived under the old blue laws often speak of them fondly.

It also forces you to think ahead and prepare for Sunday. Like Israel gathering double manna on Friday (Exodus 16:5), having to be ready for Sunday and knowing you won’t have restaurants or grocery stores as a fallback gets the mind pointed toward the Lord’s day earlier than usual.

In the interest of full transparency, with a rare exception I have gone without patronizing local businesses on Sunday for a couple of years now. Still, I’ve continued watching sports and other programs in the afternoon, so this isn’t a purist position or some kind of “holier than thou” lecture.

Again, all of this is up to personal interpretation. It is not a matter of right/wrong, but one of of good/better/best. And that’s all this is. In both immediate effect on one’s home and on the social effect of Christians starting to “vote with their feet,” I think the Chick-fil-a way tips the scales as a “better.”

As I said, this is me thinking out loud, so I’d love it if you’d like to think out loud with me. I enjoy discussions like this where we can reason about the Word with one another without our fellowship at stake, and I know many of you do, too.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

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Notes

Check out the latest Cultural Breakdown!

I discussed recent trends toward old-fashioned ways of living and what it can teach us about the place of tradition and knowing when to reject it.