Haven’t you Heard? The Bird is the Word!
The Trashmen…you know ‘em. That great band of the Vietnam era who cranked out the one song that no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t get it out of your head? Little did they know that there would be some social truth in their song, it being, if you haven’t heard, the bird is the word!
Recently, people have been in an uproar, on the Internet and social sites,both in protest and in support of a resounding corporate ethos made by Chick-fil-A’s president and CEO, Dan Cathy to Baptist Press and the Ken Coleman Show.
When it comes to supporting traditional marriage Cathy replied, “Guilty as charged” and warned that gay marriage is “Inviting God’s judgment on our Nation.” Cathy went on to say: “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage’, I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.”
“We don’t claim to be a Christian business”, Cathy went on to tell Baptist Press. “But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles, so that is what we claim to be. [Chick-fil-A] is based on biblical principle; asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have. And He has blessed us.”
Let’s look at this for a moment. Can a business operate on Biblical principles and still be profitable?
If you’re like me, you leave church on Sunday hungry. The wife and kids could be a little cranky because, well, they’re hungry too. As you survey the landscape of restaurants you inexplicably notice that Chick-fil-A is closed and you let out an, ‘if only’ sigh; knowing that you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to get that spicy chicken sandwich.
In continuing with its trend of strong sales performance, Chick-fil-A announced that it exceeded $4 billion in annual sales in 2011. This was a record for the Atlanta-based chain, representing a 13.08% increase over its 2010 sales performance. The company also generated a healthy 7% same-store sales increase and marked the 44th consecutive year of sales growth since the company began in 1967.
Chick-fil-A operates more than 1600 stores in its chain, all of which close on Sunday in order to; ‘give its employees a day for family, worship, fellowship or rest’, according to Chick-fil-A’s website. Closing on Sunday costs Chick-fil-A an estimated $700,000,000 in sales a year or a conservative $210,000,000 in profits. Yet, Chick-fil-A remains the second largest quick-service restaurant chain in the nation based on annual sales, operating at an average of $2,500,000 in sales per unit.
Contrast Chick-fil-A’s sales figures with the largest of all fast-food restaurants, McDonald’s, which currently operates 34,000 stores, totaling $27,000,000,000 in sales, or $800,000 per unit. Chick-fil-A manages a three-fold increase in per store sales over McDonald’s, and they’re closed on one of the busiest days in fast food sales.
Obviously the answer to our previous question is yes. A business can not only operate on Biblical principles and make a profit; it can operate on Biblical principles and make more money than its secular counterpart.
In all things we do, we should do them with strategic Biblical precepts. God has dominion over all things, including our businesses. In light of this, shouldn’t we consider His principles over any humanist or secular agenda disguised as ‘equality’?
As for me and my house, we will continue to dine at Chick-fil-A, because, the bird is right…the bird has spoken the Word.
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Like Chick Fil’a Stance on Marriage? Make sure to watch Crown Rights Record’s first artist IV define marriage below. Or purchase his music from the Crown Rights Store
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