Cracker Barrel and Distractions
As I scroll through social media, it seems as if every 3rd or 4th post is about Cracker Barrel. Everyone seems to have a take on the rebrand of this well-known restaurant.
And that’s fine. It is a company that nearly everyone is familiar with, and, since it is social media, people feel empowered to give their opinion.
Here’s mine: I don’t like it…but I don’t really care.
I will say this: it seems that Cracker Barrel got distracted. Their brand, really, isn’t food. Their brand is basically not changing. When you go into a Cracker Barrel, you know what you are going to see, experience, and eat. There is a comfort in that, and it seems that they got distracted from that to try to change a lot of things.
But, in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter? Is it worth all the time people have spent taking to social media to chat about every aspect of the changes? Again, I’m not saying to not talk about it at all. It’s fun in a way. But…
Here’s a thought: leave this article, go to your local obituary listings, and read just the last few days. Then come back. [Go ahead, I’ll still be here.]
Now that you’ve done that, just think: how many of those people you read about died without Jesus? How many of them slipped into eternity not being part of His Church?
You see, maybe we have gotten distracted, too. While we fuss and share thoughts on every little thing in the culture–Cracker Barrel being just one example–people are dying without the Lord. Others are walking away from the faith. Some are doubting. Families are crumbling.
And we have, in Scripture, the only answer.
Don’t you think it’s time we got back to our mission and stopped worrying so much about the goal of a restaurant?
There’s a song we don’t sing very much anymore, but it contains words that I reflect on a lot, and the words haunt me: “Shall we sit idly as they rush onward?” (The song is “Swiftly We’re Turning,” or “Into Our Hands.”)
All these distractions–and the Cracker Barrel non-troversy is just one of them–are giving us more and more ways to basically “sit idly” while people are rushing toward, as the song states it, “eternity’s night.”
We cannot be distracted. Go share a Bible verse on social media. Chat with someone about the Gospel. Have a struggling family over for supper. Text a lonely widow.
Do something that helps someone prepare for eternity. Don’t get distracted.
(And, hey, enjoy dumplings or a pancake while you do what’s most important!)
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
