A Major Sign

According to the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians chapter two, one of the major signs of the end times is a great falling away from the truth. We have been witnessing this in full form for the past twenty or so years. Now, Chick-fil-A, the third largest fast food chain in America with over ten billion dollars in sales in the past year has announced that they are restructuring their philanthropic support. They announced this week that they will no longer support any group that holds anti-LGBT views. Here is an excerpt from an article in Bisnow:

Beginning next year, Chick-fil-A will move away from its current philanthropic structure, Bisnow has learned. After donating to more than 300 charitable organizations this year, the Atlanta-based fast-food chain will instead focus on three initiatives with one accompanying charity each: education, homelessness and hunger.

“There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos said in an interview with Bisnow. “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”

The new initiative will no longer include donating to organizations like the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Paul Anderson Youth Home, Chick-fil-A says, all of which sparked criticism in the past from the LGBT community due to the organizations’ stances on homosexuality.

The move comes after several U.S. airports rejected the company from concessions deals earlier this year. More recently, the landlord of the first Chick-fil-A in the U.K. announced eight days into its lease the pop-up venue would not be welcome to extend — all because of the company’s perceived anti-LGBT stance.

The company is also months from opening its first location in Boston, where the late Mayor Thomas Menino pledged to ban the company from opening within city limits after Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy voiced his opposition to gay marriage in 2012.

A Godly Beginning

I had the honor of meeting the founder of Chick-fil-A, Truett Cathy, before he passed away. He was a godly man who openly practiced his faith and gave God all of the glory for his success. As his company grew, so did the knowledge that this wasn’t a fast food chain like all of the others. They closed on Sundays to honor the sabbath and openly donated millions of dollars to support Christian ministries and charities.

Even after the firestorm of criticism came against them in 2012 for their stance on gay marriage, their franchises spread rapidly and sales skyrocketed. Even though some communities didn’t want them, many others begged to get them. And even though radical leftists wanted to paint the company as haters, millions of patrons proudly frequented Chick-fil-A—not just for the food—but as a show of agreement and support.

Here is some of the instruction Jesus gave to His disciples as He was sending them out on a missionary journey:

Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ Luke 10:8-11 NKJV

Jesus’ advice to them was very practical. They were to stay and minister in the cities that received them. But to those who wouldn’t receive them, they were to leave in public protest of being rejected. And they were to leave with their faith intact.

Is Ten Billion Dollars Not Enough?

Why can’t Chick-fil-A just go to the communities that will accept them and refuse to do business with those who reject them as they stand up for their faith. Is ten billion dollars not enough money for them? Has God not been faithful to them as they have been criticized and rejected?

And in the same move they made to enhance their public persona, they threw the Salvation Army under the bus. Salvation Army is one of the best ministries on the planet. And their position on homosexuality isn’t in any way based on hate or prejudice. It is based on the Bible. Here is their position on homosexuality:

The Bible teaches that God's intention for humankind is that society should be ordered on the basis of lifelong, legally sanctioned heterosexual unions. ... A disposition towards homosexuality is not in itself blameworthy nor is the disposition seen as rectifiable at will. ... Homosexual practice however, is, in the light of Scripture, clearly unacceptable. Such activity is chosen behaviour and is thus a matter of the will. It is therefore able to be directed or restrained in the same way heterosexual urges are controlled. Homosexual practice would render any person ineligible for full membership (soldiership) in the Army.

Their beliefs are not only based on Scripture, they are aligned with the position of thousands of other Christian ministries and churches. So not only is Chick-fil-A changing their philanthropic structure, they are officially changing their beliefs from Bible-based to those that are popularly acceptable and will allow them to expand their fast food empire. This is another manifestation of the apostasy the Apostle Paul prophesied would happen in the last days.

Let me conclude this article with this somber warning from Jesus:

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:34-38 NKJV