The courage of cultivating real faith in a hopelessly secular age

In the course of my morning perusals of the pundit-sphere so far, I've come across three must-reads. Two are on the very same subject: major figures within the Christian sector of popular culture leaving the faith. And the third is about a company that has stuck to the faith that informs it despite fierce headwinds.

David French at National Review on Marty Sampson's departure:

It’s happened again. For the second time in three weeks, a prominent (at least in Evangelical circles) Christian has renounced his faith. In July, it was Josh Harris, a pastor and author of the mega-best-selling purity-culture book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. This month, it’s Hillsong United songwriter and worship leader Marty Sampson.

The absolute money paragraph in French's piece:

In my travels around the country, one thing has become crystal clear to me. Christians are not prepared for the social consequences of the profound cultural shifts — especially in more secular parts of the nation. They’re afraid to say what they believe, not because they face the kind of persecution that Christians face overseas but because they’re simply not prepared for any meaningful adverse consequences in their careers or with their peers.

But do read the whole thing. For one thing, I think his take on contemporary worship music is spot on.

Then, at Caffeinated Thoughts, Shane Vander Hart covers those same departures by letting Skillet's John L. Cooper take the floor:

 . . . there is a common thread running through these leaders/influencers that basically says that “no one else is talking about the REAL stuff.” This is just flatly false. I just read today in a renown worship leader’s statement, “How could a God of love send people to hell? No one talks about it.” As if he is the first person to ask this? Brother, you are not that unique. The church has wrestled with this for 1500 years. Literally. Everybody talks about it. Children talk about it in Sunday school. There’s like a billion books written on the topic. Just because you don’t get the answer you want doesn’t mean that we are unwilling to wrestle with it. We wrestle with scripture until we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Then, at Red State, Alex Parker looks into why Chick-fil-A has never caved to the general trend of corporate acquiescence to the secular fashions of our day:

In founder Truett Cathy’s memoir, Eat Mor Chickin: Inspire More People, he recalled a covenant he and his family made:

“We will be faithful to Christ’s lordship in our lives. As committed Christians we will live a life of selfless devotion to His calling in our lives. We will prayerfully seek His leadership in all major decisions that impact our family and others. Our family roles as spouses to our lifelong mates, parents to our children, and loving aunts and uncles will be our priority.”

The family vowed to uphold its Christian values as it found success and a place of cultural influence — achieved in part by philanthropic work, always being closed on Sunday, and never taking the company public.

In 2013, Truett’s son, Dan, took the helm as CEO. Since then, he’s seen the chicken chain become a veritable empire: It’s now the third largest chain in the U.S., with the first-most important single pickle in the history of sandwiches.
What a difference a dill makes. MmmmMMMM!But my, how some hate the fast food favorite.
Chick-fil-A caught flack for its matrimonial disposition — here’s what Dan said on The Ken Coleman Show amid debate over gay marriage:

“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 have the audacity to define what marriage is about.” 

 And we all know the opprobrium the company has come in for as a result of this conviction.

And we all know it is the third largest restaurant chain in the nation.

Courage is worth it.