With all the buzz in the media regarding separation of church and state, there seems to one area that is overlooked: the separation of church and business. Now don’t get me wrong—there is nothing at all wrong with running a business in a Christian manner. In fact, more businesses need to be run that way—heck, all businesses should be run in a way honoring to God.
The problem is, however, that some businesses think that what they do is a “ministry” rather than a mere business. Take, for example, Family Christian Stores [1], who recently decided to open their stores on Sundays. Whether or not such a store should be open on Sunday is another matter altogether—one which I shall not discuss right now. The problem I wish to deal with is the rationale that the chain used when coming to the decision to change policy and remain open on Sunday. In this Dallas Morning News article [2] [linked via CT Weblog [3]], the CEO of Family Christian Stores, Dave Browne, said:
“This was a decision that we took very seriously,” Mr. Browne said. “But after prayer, study and seeking the counsel of others, it became clear to us that the ministry opportunity of opening on Sundays vastly outweighed the operational preference of the status quo.”
He considers his decision to open on Sunday different from Chick-fil-A’s because Family Christian sells “ministry products.”
“No one is going to go to hell if they don’t eat a chicken sandwich on a Sunday,” he said.
Does this mean that someone is going to hell if they don’t buy an It’s All About Jesus Candy Tin [4], a Fruits of the Spirit canister set [5], and a Praying Puppy stuffed animal [6]? I think not.
Someone should tell Dave Browne and Family Christian Stores that making money is not a sin, and having a business is not a sin. Obviously they must think it is, else they would not call it a ministry. It is a business—I seriously doubt that the store has non-profit status, and if it does it makes a mockery of the non-profit tax exemption. If people pay you money for your books and other trinkets, and you make a healthly profit margin, you are in business, not ministry.
When businesses like Family Christian Stores promote themselves as ministries it give legitimate ministries a bad name. After all, didn’t Jesus say [7] to those selling in the temple, “stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”? Business is not evil, so why do they pretend like something they are not?