I really wish this wasn’t true

i read a blogger named vince pretty regularly.   he’s a church planter and author and one of the most inspiring and motivating guys i read.   i hope i get to meet him someday and have the chance to tell him how much his life and writings mean to me from a distance.

i know one of his friends…fletch…who’s an awesome guy.   just being around fletch is inspiring.   i wish he and i were able to do life and ministry together.   i would be better for it.   for the time being,  we have a sandwich at whataburger every now and then and catch up.   it’s time for that burger…

i’m a pretty fortunate guy.

back to vince.   today,  he wrote about living and doing kingdom work in las vegas,  where he planted a church a couple of years ago.   here’s a portion of what he wrote:

So I started writing a book about my experiences in Vegas,  and it was turned down by Christian publishers.  I was told that Christians prefer to pretend Las Vegas doesn’t exist,  and don’t want to think about it.One of the things we miss in Vegas is Chick-fil-a.  It’s a Christian-owned restaurant franchise (they aren’t open on Sundays so employees can attend church).   My wife loves their chicken sandwiches and ice tea.   There are Chick-fil-a’s everywhere,  but not in Vegas.  On a recent trip to California we stopped in one,  and my wife asked the manager why there were none in Vegas.   His answer,  “Putting a Chick-fil-a in Las Vegas would go against our company’s core values.”Well … the reason I moved to Vegas is the same reason most Christians ignore it,  and Chick-fil-a refuses to come here.  It’s because it’s Sin City.  It’s because light shines best in the darkness.   And … thank God Jesus didn’t have the same attitude as most Christians and Chick-fil-a or else He never would have come to Earth for us.

now i’ll confess.   i like chick-fil-a,  also.   and i have also admired their unapologetic conviction to close on sundays and the christian principles that flow down from their founder.   i’m even okay with playing “christian” music in their stores  ( tho i wish they would pick better songs…).   there is no doubt in my mind that chick-fil-a has a ton of admirable qualities in both it’s structure and purpose.

but i’m with vince on this one.   refusing to put one of it’s stores in las vegas because it goes against the company’s core values? really?  please…

hey…this is america.   it’s their right and privilege to do anything they want to do.   it’s their company.   they can refuse to put their stores however they chose and for whatever reasons they deem important.   this is a free country.

but really…how did christians wander so far away from the example of the life of jesus?   when did his core values get redefined?

this story just makes me incredibly sad.

#chickfila #discipleship #friends