Chick-fil-A a lightning rod for controversy and success

Way back in 1946, Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, decided his restaurant would not open on Sundays. Most of us are well aware of Cathy and his family, who still own the company that makes headlines for its faith.

Back in those days hardly anyone blinked when he closed his restaurants every Sunday for rest and church, and I doubt anyone paid any attention to the fact he believed in biblical marriage.

But now it’s 2019, a different day and time, and hardly a month goes by that someone isn’t boycotting the restaurant chain or trying to block its expansion. The boycotts and lack of expansion opportunities hurt the company financially, but Cathy, who died in 2014 at age 93, didn’t waver on his decision or in his faith.

He was a member of First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ga., and taught Sunday School for 50 years. He lived out his Sunday-School lessons. A World War II veteran, he opened a place called the Dwarf Grill (due to its size) and soon created the chicken sandwich that would make him rich and famous. He opened the first Chick-fil-A in Atlanta in 1967, and the rest is fast-food history.

Cathy has been quoted as saying the first day of the week should be for employees to have "one day to rest and worship if they choose." There are many biblical principles that Cathy and the company stand for. The family’s view on biblical marriage has been the most controversial.

Chick-fil-A is still family owned, run by sons Dan and Donald Cathy, standing by biblical principles and at times catching flak for it, just like their dad.

By all accounts I have read, Truett Cathy followed those principles in his personal and business life. How easy it would have been to waver, to join in with everyone else when Sunday blue laws started falling to the wayside decades ago. Yes, that’s right, there used to be laws that didn’t allow certain types of businesses to open on Sunday.

He no doubt took heart in John 15:20 “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

I don’t know that some of the protests against Chick-fil-A through the years would qualify as persecution, but people did protest the company due to its beliefs. Lots of folks have faith, but Cathy had a very strong faith that he lived out. Those who do not agree with him have beliefs also, and in America we have the right to believe what we want, and the right to carry out our beliefs or protest. The Cathys carry out their beliefs, and those who don’t believe as they do carry out theirs.

Anyway, the point of today’s column is that despite the protests and a few airports that deem Chick-fil-A’s beliefs and actions as not politically correct, a silent, hungry majority has made it one of the most successful fast-food companies in the world.

Chick-fil-A had revenue of more than $10 billion in 2018, according to the company's corporate financials that were announced recently. Chick-fil-A has 2,400 restaurants in 47 states and Washington D.C. The company has had growth for 51 straight years, which is a dream scenario for any business. You could say Chick-fil-A has been blessed.

Most fast-food restaurants are busy on the weekend, so, for conversation sake, let’s say Chick-fil-A could do 15 percent more business if open on a Sunday. USA Today did just that computation in a recent story, and projects the company could make $1.2 billion more a year if it were open on Sunday.

Apparently there is a lot to like about Chick-fil-A. It has health-food options, Glassdoor listed the company as one of the country’s best 100 places to work in 2017, and you have to love its commercials.