Hobby Lobby

I know that many in our class are familiar with Hobby Lobby as a business but more specifically as a Christian business. Not hearing about them before being mentioned in class, I decided to do some research for this blog post.

Hobby Lobby, formerly Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, is a US retail store for arts and crafts with many chain stores across the South. The company first came into existence in 1972 when David Green opened the fist store in Oklahoma City. In 2018, Hobby Lobby had a volume of about 5 billion dollars.

Hobby Lobby is uniquely a Christian company in that it is not at all afraid to show its allegiance to the public. They run full-page religious posters and advertisements on the major holidays and close their doors every Sunday, something that less and less businesses are opting to do. One event of note in recent time is the controversy around Hobby Lobby and the Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby refused to supply birth control to its customers and successfully argued its way out of supplying the product as the Affordable Care Act required. The owner of Hobby Lobby is a devout Christian running the company in a way that glorifies God and holds consistent with the teachings of the Bible. In the owner’s eyes, along with many other Christians, birth control is not something to be encouraged by its presence in the business. Hobby Lobby’s Mission Statement is along the lines of “Honor the lord… in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.” Naturally, this controversy sparked a lot of outrage from the non-Christian public along with Christians of a differing opinion.

Say what you would like about the store, but Hobby Lobby and its owners are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in regardless of the backlash from society, customers, and even their own employees. They are seeking to make a difference in society by standing up for and executing the teachings of the Bible in the business world, something that few businesses are willing to do if it hurts their ability to make a profit.