3 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Boycott Starbucks

I know what you're thinking, what does a guy who recently wrote an article about how Starbucks has missed the mark when it comes to serving up the tastiest espresso care about whether or not we boycott Starbucks.  The truth is I love Starbucks for a number of reasons, least of which is not the previously mentioned iced venti extra carmel carmel macchiato or a quad espresso over ice in a tall cup or just a cup of strong black coffee!  See what you made me do, now I'm off topic.  Back to my 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Boycott Starbucks!

1) It hurts Christians too!  I worked for Starbucks on two separate occasions in two different states and while in their employ I never felt as though I couldn't share what I believed or what we were doing (attending Bible school and preparing to plant churches in Italy) with other employees or customers.  In fact, I found it to be an excellent place to work while having the opportunity to engage with people from the community (often regulars) in a culturally relevant environment.   I'd go back to work for them in a heartbeat.  Further more, of the Starbucks I worked at and those I've regularly frequented I can't remember any where Christians weren't employed and present.  So when you boycott Starbucks you actually hurt the income of other believers. (Not to mention making their testimony and witness as believers seem like little more than radical extremism.)  You also miss out on opportunities to share the love of Jesus in a culturally relevant environment.

Case in point: Several weeks ago I met a young lady who was saved while working at Starbucks because Christians showed her the love of Jesus without judgement or condemnation.  Now she wants to serve God with her life in Italy!  Check out her story at: http://vimeo.com/29749440  

I'm SERIOUS, Watch it NOW!!!

2) It's inconsistent!  That's right, inconsistent.  Sin is sin, yet we tend to want to treat some sins as worse than others but that's simply not Biblical.  If you want to stop drinking Starbucks because you've read my previous blog post and recognize that their espresso roast misses the mark, that's fine.  If you want to stop drinking their coffee because it's costing you a fortune, that's fine.  If you prefer to roast your own coffee, that's fine.  But if you want to boycott Starbucks because the CEO made a few comments regarding the company's support of same sex marriage that, by the way, have been largely taken out of context and misrepresented, then you really should be consistent.  Do you realize that if you are reading this it's almost certainly only possible because you've purchased a product from a company that supports same sex marriage?  Truth is you aren't being very consistent.

3) It contradicts the ministry, message, and method of Jesus!  Straight up, Jesus came to save sinners.  He wasn't known for hanging out with the "religious" or "moral" people of His day.  He also wasn't found picketing the local brothel or boycotting the incredibly corrupt tax system.  (In fact we really only see Him getting angry and taking action against those who should have known better but were using His father's house for profit.)  No, Jesus was a friend of sinners.  He spent his time with prostitutes and tax collectors.  His message was to and for sinners and it wasn't "change and then come to me."  it was simply, "come to me!"  (Don't worry, He does the changing.)  He taught His followers that all of the Law was summed up in two commandments, to love God and to love others.  He taught us to be salt and light, not to expect or force others to come under His rule.  Don't get me wrong, He called sin sin but He didn't assume that any of us were anything more than sinners who desperately needed a savior so why do we?  Sin is sin and we are sinners, every one of us.

At a recent church planting conference, a certain unnamed speaker stated that, "We need to rethink our stance on homosexuality!"  Now before you get all excited, he wasn't saying that we shouldn't consider it as sin.  Rather, he went on to ask us if we would feel more uncomfortable having the homo-sexual couple from across the street over for dinner than the unmarried but living together hetro-sexual couple.  The simple reality is that both of these couples are just sinners and both need Jesus.  We will never reach people in the homo-sexual community by throwing stones or boycotting companies who employ them or support their rights.  We need to show them the love of Jesus.  Don't take my word for it, check out the testimony of leftist lesbian professor who hated Christians but somehow became one in a recent Christianity Today article! (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/january-february/my-train-wreck-conversion.html?start=1)  Now think about this, maybe God has placed you in the country and community in which you live, not to be the judge or try to make it conform to your standards but rather to show Jesus' love to others by loving them.

Now I support Christian marriage but I don't want to just sign some petition or expect some earthly government to define it for me.  No, I want our marriage to be an example to those around us.  We want to be a blessing and a light for everyone to see.  We aren't perfect but we celebrate the fact that God brought us together so that we could serve Him with our lives.  That's why we are finally, after almost 13 years of marriage, doing something "big" for our anniversary.  We're taking a 37 euro round-trip flight to London to spend a day (and 2 nights) together as a couple and we're getting our friends here (believers and non-believers) involved in watching our kids and excited because we are excited about what God has done and continues to do in and through our lives together.  We value marriage but it can't be just with out words!  Brothers and sisters, if we want to define marriage we don't need a government define it for us or to force others to view it God's way, no, we need to show the world what marriage really means.  

By the way, our little getaway to London will most likely include a trip to Starbucks!