Hobby Lobby Founder's Viral Letter to Employees Is Exactly What We Need To Hear Right Now
With the world suffering from the coronavirus global pandemic, its easy to fall into panic and despair as schools and businesses across the nation close their doors indefinitely and each new day brings word of more infected or dead worldwide.
In these times, it is important to remain grounded in faith in Jesus Christ, which is exactly where Hobby Lobby CEO and founder David Green has always anchored his life and company.
According to its website, Hobby Lobby is the “largest privately owned arts-and-crafts retailer in the world” employing 43,000 workers across 46 states. Its affiliate, Mardel Christian & Education, sells Christian themed books, supplies, toys and other goods in its 37 stores.
In a now-viral memo addressed to both Hobby Lobby and Mardel employees, Green reportedly shared words of encouragement and comfort rooted in faith.
While there is yet to be an official statement confirming the letter’s authenticity, the message was one of hope in the face of adversity and very much in line with Green’s life philosophy.
“This country has experienced several calamities and disruptions over the past century. From world wars and terrorist attacks, to financial crises and pandemics,” he began.
“While the current COVID-19 virus has been added to that list, and is certainly concerning and disruptive, I have every confidence that we, as a country and Company, will sustain and thrive again soon.”
Green credited his wife Barbara as his family’s “prayer warrior” and shares how “that title takes on such a different meaning than I ever imagined before because we are at war with this latest virus,” the letter states.
He shared that in prayer, Barbara felt that the Lord pressed on her heart “three profound words to remind us that He’s in control. Guide, Guard, and Groom,” he wrote.
“We serve a God who will Guide us through this storm, who will Guard us as we travel to places never seen before, and who, as a result of this experience, will Groom us to be better than we could have ever thought possible before now.”
He drove the point home that “While we do not know for certain what the future holds, or how long this disruption will last, we can all rest in knowing that God is in control.”
The way the memo closes is a confirmation of what remains the driving force behind the man and the company.
“Our Statement of Purpose from the beginning of our company is as relevant today as it was in 1972: ‘We believe that it is by God’s grace and provision that the Company has endured,” he wrote. “He has been faithful in the past, and we trust Him for our future.’”
Of course, the Twitter mob went crazy, including almost 38,000 retweets of this gem from Kendall Y. Brown.
“Hobby Lobby owner David Green is telling store managers to stay open despite the pandemic because his wife had a vision from god,” she wrote.
“He also warns they’ll all have to “tighten their belts” soon. His net worth is $6.4 billion—hourly employees don’t get paid sick leave. #COVIDIOT”
Hobby Lobby owner David Green is telling store managers to stay open despite the pandemic because his wife had a vision from god.
He also warns they’ll all have to “tighten their belts” soon. His net worth is $6.4 billion—hourly employees don’t get paid sick leave. #COVIDIOT pic.twitter.com/4pEhivDbNy
— Towanda the Avenger (@kendallybrown) March 22, 2020
Several of the retweets included profanity-laced rants against the company with the hashtag ##BOYCOTTHOBBYLOBBY from users who clearly didn’t bother to read the letter or who were already boycotting the company anyway.
Green has taken much heat over the years for his unapologetic embrace of Biblical Christianity that informs his business decisions.
The company famously won a victory against the Obamacare employer-paid contraceptives mandate, which included forms of birth control that are abortifacient, on the grounds that it violated the owners’ Christian beliefs.
Hobby Lobby also purchased full-page ads in several newspapers last Christmas depicting the Christmas star with the words “It’s a boy” underneath and a Bible verse at the bottom. Presumably, the only intention was to celebrate the birth of Christ, but quoting the Bible, including Jesus in Christmas, and using gendered pronouns is the perfect trifecta to trigger leftists.
What David Green reportedly shared with his employees in his recent letter is the exact message that is needed in times such as these.
With so much uncertainty and suffering in the world, Christians are reminded not to despair. The Bible left us this message, which has carried Christians through the trials and tribulations across two millennia.
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
The Greens continue to live out their faith as they’ve always done, by leading their company through rough seas with Christ as their navigator.
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