Faith or panache? The Chick Fil-A Conspiracy

Anyone who has been to Chick Fil-A has heard the phrases “how may I serve you?” and “my  pleasure” from cheerful employees. This is the external indicator of Dan and Truett Cathy’s conspiracy to flood the working world with people who are polite, respectful, and cheerful. These workers will go on to take jobs in industry and government where they will outperform their peers because of these behaviors (assuming they retain them). This is not that they won’t have the same issues as their contemporaries, but that in their dealings with others they will exhibit positive communications skills. This conspiracy could turn the workforce upside down, rewarding and promoting traditional values like respect for others and good manners, rather than aggressive and self-serving focus on advancement. 

How does this relate to faith vs. panache? Flamboyance in style or action is often seen in exuberant worship that can mask the inner workings of faith in a believer’s life. We go to worship services and often don’t have the opportunity to address with others our inner turmoil regarding circumstances, doubts, or challenges. Instead we come before the Lord and participate in faith. St. Paul reflected on this to the extreme in defending his holy boldness. (2 Corinthians 11:21-30) The background is this: it is in our challenges, our adverse circumstances, trials, and temptations that we have the opportunity to engage most strongly and directly with Jesus. Just as teenagers learn to show up for work and be polite when things are grumpy, and therein learn a solid work and workplace ethic, norms, and behaviors, so we believers learn to live in faith and experience the power of God’s grace when we worship in church and interact with God and His people in faith directly despite our situation. This is training for heaven.

“Follow the Science” - politics under color of authority?

“Under color of authority is a legal phrase … indicating that a person is claiming or implying the acts he or she is committing are related to and legitimized by his or her role as an agent of governmental power.” (Wikipedia, 13 November 2021) In police work, it generally is applied to a situation when a police officer justifies assault (violence) far beyond the needed level of force. It is often a matter of judgment when this issue is raised.

In Biblical interpretation, many religious scholars, pastors, and pundits are tempted to claim the authority of Scripture for their interpretation of it. As representatives of God, they are called to preach, along with correct, rebuke, and exhort. (2 Timothy 4:2) The 40,000-45,000 Christian denominations in the world speak to disagreements in the past and present. These have included personality clashes as well as disputes about implementation in matters the Bible does not provide implementation details. Rare is the denomination that does not claim the authority of God for their beliefs and practices. Calling out disagreements amounts to claiming that their unique beliefs and practices are legitimized by the correct understanding of God and His word, which they alone possess.

The new kid on the block is science. The phrase ‘follow the science’ is widely used by politicians to claim that their laws and policies are legitimized by science, and everyone else is ignoring scientific findings. It sounds appealing, but… what is science? “Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world.” (Wikipedia, 13 November 21)  

The claim of the authority of science is tied to testable explanations and predictions. Easy as this concept is to apply to basic physics, the challenge comes in the complexity of the real world. In doing experiments it is necessary to isolate the phenomenon being tested from all other possible factors. Politicians gloss over this detail in crafting policies based on ‘the science’. An honest statement would have to caveat policy pronouncements with phrases like ‘in my judgment’ or ‘in the judgment of qualified scientists’. This is not to say that the law of universal gravitation is a matter of judgment. Policy issues seldom depend on it. But statistics on the efficacy of a vaccine, mask wearing, social distancing, or lockdowns vary widely because of the innumerable variables involved. 

These politicians want to use ‘the science’ as a kind of trump card to defeat all other considerations, such as limited government and the bill of rights in the constitution. Whether any given measure will work as claimed or not, science does not automatically override all other considerations. Even if vaccines are as effective as their advocates believe, and people are individually better off by getting them, is a public health crisis worth ending the freedom under the rule of law that the United States was established on? Limited government, individual liberty under the rule of law can be eroded by many actions, either by despotic policies from iron-fisted rulers, or by rebellious militias seeking to achieve local autonomy. Anarchy, as described in a previous post on Haiti, arises from hearts not fully devoted to God. But ‘science’-based tyranny claims the acts the tyrant is committing are related to and legitimized by science. What is the risk that these science-citing wannabe dictators are partaking of the spirit described in Isaiah 14:13-14?

I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.

Any of us could be so tempted.

Haiti - Compromised Hearts and Syncretism

The recent kidnapping of 17 missionaries by a Haitian gang, with ransom demands and threats of murder, briefly brought public attention to its failed-state status. Since the UN peacekeeping mission withdrew there has been no real governance or enforcement of civil order. Not that Haiti is unique - Somalia in 1993 got world attention for its civil war (which lasted roughly from 1991-2012) due to the battle of Mogadishu. Afghanistan is probably in a similar condition, although at present news reports are scarce. What is the root cause?

Mankind has a sin problem, going back to Adam and Eve. But the modern consequences have a spiritual dimension, that affects all of society. The Bwa Kayiman ceremony and the Haitian slave revolt of 1791 reflect this primal human sin nature - that the ends justify the means. Is it less evil to use kidnapping and murder as a means to create a better society than to subjugate and enslave people by torture and murder? Veritas ipsa loquitur. To buy just a bit into Satan’s worldview is to contaminate the whole. Whether Voodoo is the cause of Haiti’s social dysfunction or a symptom of it, the desire for supernatural power to inflict evil on another has but one source. This is not a trick question.

What of the professed Christianity - Catholic or Protestant - of a large fraction of the Haitian population? Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, so why are His children subject to Satan’s power? The Scriptures give a few hints. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes people who hold to a form of godliness but deny its power. Acts 19:13-16 describes the attempt of some would-be exorcists to cast a demon out in the name of Jesus but not actually knowing Him. We do not know the hearts of the Haitians (God does) but the social acceptance of voodoo speaks for itself. Claiming Christ but also hedging bets by acknowledging voodoo - a compromised heart - is syncretism no different than Jewish idol worship in historic Israel. 

Satan’s deception is extraordinarily sly; he knew exactly how to trick Adam and Eve into their first sin.  When appeals to people who name Christ to repent of and renounce their sin and the world, the flesh, and the devil have fallen on deaf ears, the only(and inevitable) outcome is the determined by cause and effect.

In the U.S. and western countries we view social breakdown and dysfunction as something that couldn’t happen here. But we should heed the warning of this object lesson. Syncretism in Haiti may one day unravel. Syncretism in western culture - worldly religion, Christianity along with worship of economic or political idols, I mean ideals - could engender future disaster for us. We can’t have it both ways. Either Jesus is Lord, and we choose to know and walk with Him, or else not. We can’t create heaven on earth or build the kingdom of God by worldly means. If we have compromised hearts (mixed loyalties), He will use the consequences that result from our mixed religious allegiances to refine us, just as He does others.

I Chronicles 28 records David’s warning and promise to Solomon when he became king just before David’s death. Verse 9 states, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” These words speak to us.