It's The Culture, Not The Chicken

There is something different about this fast food restaurant. Each time I walk through the glass doors, a positive atmosphere wraps itself around me like an oversized quilt that was lovingly stitched just for me. I always feel welcome and appreciated here. According to their menu, they sell chicken sandwiches, but they deliver something much more valuable than a piece of chicken fried in peanut oil. The employees are young, but they are happy. Smiling customer service is always punctuated with "My pleasure," which is quite the rarity in the food service biz now a days.

At some point in this company's infancy, the founder made it a priority to create a uniquely positive culture. You get the sense all these years later, that the employees have bought into that culture wholeheartedly and without reservation. Repeat customers, like myself, are now the beneficiaries of that culture. I'm sure you've been to a Chick Fil A before, but if not, stop in. You'll be welcome anytime...except Sunday of course. They are always closed on Sundays. Why are they closed on Sundays you ask? Their website tells the story better than I can, "Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. Having worked seven days a week in restaurants open 24 hours, Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose-a practice we uphold today." 

A smile is far more contagious than the uncovered cough. Put another way, "it's catching." Both are spread in similar fashion, but we only think of airborne germs when we think of something that is "infectious." Take the Chick Fil A example above, I never leave that restaurant in a worse mood than I entered. Often times as the employees are preparing my order, they pause briefly to ask me, with sincerity, "how's your day going?" Other than a handful of friends and family, no-one asks me how my day is going. Sadly, most are too busy or too distracted to wonder or care. This isn't a pity party, I neglect to ask others as well.

All of us at some point or another have complained about the world around us. "Neighbors just don't look out for each-other anymore," an elderly family member says during dinner. "No-one respects the value of human life anymore" a co-worker says while reading the morning newspaper. "Dude, we live in a dark and broken world, its ridiculous" I told a friend just this past week. So, here is my challenge to you and to myself as well...If we don't like what we see in the world around us, let's change the culture. The most devastating plagues in the history of our world started with a single person to person exchange. Why do we then doubt the possibility that a single positive person to person exchange can change the course of our history as well?

Take this hypothetical: A businessman enters an elevator on the ground floor alone and in a rush. He is already 10 minutes late to his Monday morning meeting on the 12th floor. His mind, like his desk, is cluttered with overdue items that need his attention. One floor up, he hears the chime of the elevator indicating someone on the next floor is needing to go up as well. "Great!" he thinks to himself, as he rolls his eyes. Enter the young mother slowly making her way onto the elevator with her disabled daughter. The business man is taking his briefcase to his office, the mother is taking her daughter to yet another doctors appointment. Realizing the sudden unimportance of the items that were on his mind a few short moments ago, he offers a genuine smile to the mother. His smile is quickly followed with a friendly "good morning." He points to the buttons on the wall of the elevator, "What floor do you need?" The mother  smiles back, "8 please." The doors of the elevator close and the quiet ascent begins. The businessman leans down to the mother's daughter and through a dimpled grin he says, "I really like that t-shirt. My little girl loves the Trolls movie too. We've seen it 4 times already." The little girl looks up at her mother, and their smiles meet in midair. Leaving the elevator, the little girl and her mother turn to wave to the business man on the elevator, and the doors close again. All three now carry a joyous infection to others after the exchange. Most people refuse to engage strangers in an elevator. The businessman changed the culture.

Remember how I told you earlier that Chick Fil A is never open on Sunday? I lied...well kind of. The general rule is that they are closed on Sundays. However, in June of 2016, in response to a local gay night club shooting, employees of an Orlando, Florida Chick Fil A went to work. They went to work to make food for volunteers, for first responders, and for people donating blood for the injured.  Truett Cathy closed his restaurant on Sunday because he cared about his employees. His employees opened on Sunday because they cared about their community. It was part of their culture. 

In the Old Testament, the Lord, through Moses, told the people of Israel to "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." On this day one was not permitted to labor or work, but rather one should rest. Fast forward to the New Testament and the "Pharisees" who were the strict religious elite, follow the commandments and laws religiously...no pun intended. So you can imagine when this Jesus guy comes on the scene and attempts to heal people on the Sabbath, the Pharisees aren't too accepting.

Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 13:10-17 tell stories of Jesus healing a man and a women in a synagogue on the Sabbath. In Mark, the Pharisees that were present in the synagogue were baffled that Jesus would attempt to heal someone on the Sabbath. In response, Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" When they were silent, Jesus "looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts." The verse concludes with "Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with Heroidans how they might kill Jesus." They didn't like this man who wanted to change the culture.

In Luke, Jesus lovingly intends to heal a woman who had been crippled and "bent double," for 18 years. When He called her over He said, "Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness! Then He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight." Do you not think that woman was infected with joy that spread to others she would later meet? Luke tells us, "How she praised God!"

When I stop and think about it, there are a lot of fast food restaurants in my town that sell fried chicken sandwiches. So why do I continue to go back to Chick Fil A, even when they are closed on Sunday? I guess it's the culture, not the chicken.

Much Love, Adam