S. Truett
Cathy
Chick-fil-A
is my favorite fast food restaurant. It has been nearly all of my life. If you Google
their history, you’ll find that the first Chick-fil-A was opened at Greenbriar
Shopping Mall in Atlanta, which was less than four miles from my home. It was
the go-to place when I was a kid. I’d even ride my bike to the mall to meet
friends and eat at Chick-fil-A.
Truett Cathy was the founder of Chick-fil-A. He
was widely known as a godly man of character. Like begets like. That’s why this
story about Truett’s son, Dan Cathy, didn’t surprise me. Pastor Rick Warren shared
about a trip he made with Dan, the President of Chick-fil-A. Warren shared that
they’d been out visiting some ministry sites. When it became lunchtime, they
stopped at a Taco Bell. But before eating they freshened up in the men’s room. Rick
Warren said that before they left the bathroom, Cathy took down extra paper
towels and cleaned the sinks! Warren acknowledged the powerful impression that
left. The President of a massive fast food chain quietly cleaning the bathroom
of a competitor. “We teach our staff to try to leave every situation they
encounter better than they found it.” Dan Cathy walks the talk. He learned it
from his Dad.
I love reading leadership autobiographies, often
about someone who started a business or company. Yet, you’ll often find a sad chapter
in these histories of business leaders about halfway through the book. Too often
you’ll come to a section where the author says something like “about this time
I went through my first divorce.” If you’re familiar with successful business
leaders, it’s common. It seems many successful leaders make a choice – to focus
on their marriage or to focus on their business. In nearly every situation where
the marriage failed, it was because it couldn’t compete with the business.
What an example Truett Cathy was! Not only
was he able to build a remarkable business, but he also kept his marriage healthy
and raised a family that loved Jesus. It’s inspiring to me when the positive
values of the business match the positive values of the person.
Yet, Truett Cathy didn’t have an
individualistic faith. He believed in the importance of community and the local
church. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia and
taught a boys’ Sunday School class there for more than 50 years. He said that
the Bible was his guidebook for life. Because of his strong religious beliefs,
all of Chick-fil-A’s locations, whether company-owned or franchised, are closed
on Sundays to allow its employees to attend church and to spend time with their
families. The policy began when Truett was working six days a week and multiple
shifts. He decided to close on Sundays.
I saw this firsthand. His daughter, Trudy
Cathy-White, is a few years older than I am and was a cheerleader at the high
school I attended during my freshman and sophomore years. Like her father, Trudy, is a
beloved leader, communicator, and entrepreneur. When she was just 19 years old,
she began working for the family business and became an operator of a new
Chick-fil-A restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama - making her the youngest
Operator at that time. Though she’d just finished her freshman year at Samford
University, Truett believed in his daughter and handed her the keys. She took
a year off from school to run the restaurant and, in that time, hired fellow
Samford student, John White. “When he came in, I knew I needed to hire him. It
didn’t hurt that he was good-looking,” Trudy laughs. They’ve been together ever
since.
Throughout their marriage, Trudy and John
White have actively sought opportunities to connect with and invest in others’
lives. They served for 20 years in missions. For ten of those years, they served as
missionaries in Brazil. “When I think
back on my time as an international missionary,” Trudy explains, “I remember
these words my Dad said to me: ‘If you help enough other people get what they
want in life you’ll eventually get what you want out of life.’ Today, I know
that true happiness is less about me and more about others. That's what brings
me real joy.”
Most of us spend 40+ hours a week in the
workplace. One of our greatest places of influence and opportunity to serve
Jesus is at work. A lost world desperately needs Christians who don’t hide
their faith, who don’t just talk about their faith – they actually live out their
faith. There are many biblical truths that we could highlight about the
workplace, let me focus on one.
Be excited about your job. Last
year the church office received a call from an area employer. They mentioned
the person’s name and then said, “__________
is such a great employee. We’re looking to hire and wondered if your church had
more individuals like this.” That individual was truly living out what it means
to be a Christ-follower at work!
Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do,
work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord
Christ.” As Christians, while we have employers who sign our paychecks, we must
remember that we have a higher reporting chain. Higher than our boss is the One
we must work heartily for—the Lord. While our boss might decide our salary, the
Lord is capable of giving us a much greater reward.
What does that look like in practice? Well, here’s
something that will please both the Lord and your employer. When people are
standing around grumbling about the boss, management, and so on, do your
work! Instead of joining in the pity party, do your job.
In your work, always keep this in mind –
Jesus never took the easy way out. He was God manifest in the flesh, and still worked
as a carpenter for decades. Jesus never cut corners, produced shoddy output, or
complained about the people He worked for. Furthermore, He didn’t miraculously
turn wood into structures—He did the work with His own two hands!
If you’re going to have a Christ-honoring testimony
in the workplace, your work ethic absolutely matters. Your co-workers,
managers, peers, and subordinates will take notice. If you’re a Christian,
you’d better believe that folks are taking notes! Yet, far more important than
the note-takers, your Heavenly Father will take notice. He’s taking notes, too,
and the stakes are much higher! Give Him the place and honor He deserves, and
serve Him as you serve others on the job. And now it’s time for some waffle fries. Writing
this made me hungry!
Can
we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out
more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at
262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life,
I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My
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