By Kirsten Rodgers
In America, Chick-Fil-A is a Christian-owed restaurant chain that has decided to take some very counter-cultural approaches in their company design. When he first founded the company, Truet Cathy decided that he would honor God by following two basic biblical commands: keeping the Sabbath and Tithing. He decided that he would close his restaurants every Sunday, and even more radically, he decided that instead of giving 10% of his earnings as a tithe and living off the rest, he would give away 90% of his earnings and live off 10%.
These decisions seem unwise from a business perspective, yet the most interesting thing about Chick-Fil-A, is it's huge success. Despite being open less time per week than it's competitors and giving away significantly more money, the most recent QSR report says that Chick-Fil-A "generates more revenue per restaurant than any other fast food chain in America". Chick-Fil-A's average sales per restaurant in 2014 were $3.1 million, where as KFC, their main fried-chicken competitor, sold only $960,000 per restaurant.
What is their secret? I believe that their success comes from two things. First, I believe that they are able to create such a high-quality product because they are reflecting the image of the Creator God. Chick-Fil-A is just really, really good. In fact, they are so good that the rest of the world doesn’t care if they are Christian or not- they just want what they are selling. I am a firm believer that Christians should be making the most high-quality, creative and successful products on the market because we have the ability to tap into a source that non-believers do not have access to: the mind and thoughts of God. Bill Johnson says, “When unbelievers lead the way in inventions and artistic expressions, it is because the church has embraced a false kind of spirituality.”
Yet, while I genuinely believe that the Chick-Fil-A product is clearly better than most of its competitors, perhaps there is more going on here than just following good business techniques. While their chicken is really good, their success is blowing away secular statisticians, and people can’t seem to figure out how to explain why Chick-Fil-A’s profit margin is so much greater than its competitors. The most recent secular article that I read was almost laughable because they could not come up with a good reason as to why Chick-Fil-A was so successful. They finally stumbled upon the conclusion that it must be because they have milkshakes on their menu in addition to chicken. This is not enough to explain such a huge margin! I believe that the second reason they are so successful, is because they are tapping into the economy of heaven and showing us what happens when we actually follow the invitation of honor that God has given us.
Isaiah 58:13 says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth”
Similarly, Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
These are the promises of a very real God, and I believe that He is honoring Truet Cathy by causing the world to look at Chick-Fil-A and say, “We can see that your God is with you”.
Perhaps there are more ways to honor God then by simply talking about Him in our movies and songs, or sharing the gospel message discreetly here and there. Perhaps one of the ways that He wants to glorify Himself is by helping us create the most amazing products on the market and by showing the rest of the world that when we honor Him, He blesses us beyond what makes sense.
福来鸡(全美第一快餐店)
By Kirsten Rodgers
在美国，Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡) 是一家基督徒开的连锁餐厅，它决定在公司的设计中采用一些非常反文化常态的做法。在一开始创立这家公司的时候，Truet Cathy决定通过遵循两条基本的圣经教导来荣耀上帝:守安息日和十一奉献。他们的餐馆每周日都关门歇业，甚至更彻底的，他决定不把10%的收入作为奉献，拿剩下的收入来生活，而是将90%的收入都捐赠出去，仅靠着10%的收入生活。
从商业的角度来看，这些决定似乎是不明智的，但关于Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)最有趣的是他们获得的巨大成功。尽管每周的营业时间比竞争对手要少，而且捐赠的钱要多得多，但最新的QSR餐饮发展报告说，在美国，Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)每家餐厅的收入比美国其他任何一家快餐连锁餐厅都要多。2014年，Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)每家餐厅的平均销售额为310万美元，而其炸鸡竞争对手肯德基每家餐厅的销售额仅为96万美元。
他们的秘密是什么?我相信他们的成功来源于两件事。首先，我相信他们能够创造出如此高品质的产品，是因为他们请上帝赐予他们想法和成功的商业策略。他们通过创造市场上最优质的食物来反映上帝的形象。Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)的品质真的是太好了。事实上，他们是如此的优秀，以至世界上的其他人都不在乎他们是不是基督徒——他们只是想要他们卖的东西。我坚信基督徒应该创造出市场上最优质、最具创意、最成功的产品，因为我们有能力去连接非信徒无法接触到的来源:上帝的心。比尔强生说:“当非信徒在引领着发明创作和艺术表达的时候，是因为教会接受了一种错误的灵性。”
然而，尽管我由衷相信Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)的产品明显比大多数竞争对手好，但除了遵循良好的商业技巧之外，或许还有更多的原因。虽然他们的鸡肉很好，他们的成功让世俗的统计学家们感到震惊，人们似乎仍无法解释为什么Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)的利润要比竞争对手大得多。我最近读到的一篇世俗文章几乎是可笑的，因为他们找不到一个很好的理由来解释为什么Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)如此成功。他们最后得出结论是：因为除了鸡肉之外，Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)的菜单上还有奶昔。这当然是不足以解释如此巨大差距的！我相信他们之所以如此成功的第二个原因，是因为他们连接了天国的经济体，并向我们展示了我们接受上帝给予的荣誉邀请时，会发生什么。
以赛亚书58章13节说:“你若在安息日掉转（注：或作“谨慎”）你的脚步，在我圣日不以操作为喜乐，称安息日为可喜乐的，称耶和华的圣日为可尊重的，而且尊敬这日，不办自己的私事，不随自己的私意，不说自己的私话;你就以耶和华为乐,耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处。”
同样，玛拉基书3章10节说:“你们要将当纳的十分之一全然送入仓库，使我家有粮，以此试试”,万军之耶和华说，“我是否为你们敞开天上的窗户，倾福与你们，甚至无处可容。”
这些是一个非常真实的来自上帝的承诺，我相信通过让世界看到Chick-Fil-A(福来鸡)的时候说，“我们可以看到你的上帝和你在一起”， 祂是在使Truet Cathy得着荣耀。
也许，比起在我们的电影和歌曲中简单直接地提到他，或者在各处谨慎地分享福音信息，我们有更多的方式来荣耀上帝。也许祂想要使自己收到赞美的方式之一就是通过帮助我们创造出市场上最令人惊叹的产品，并向世人展示，当我们荣耀神的时候，他会超越寻常的来祝福我们。