Coffee Cups, Christian Privilege, and the Gospel

Red coffee cups. This is the subject of the latest culture war among conservative Christians. Last week, Joshua Feuerstein, a self proclaimed “evangelist” based in Arizona, posted a now viral video on YouTube declaring his outrage that Starbuck’s new seasonal coffee cups were simply red and had no reference to Christmas or Christ. What should have been one radical (or attention seeking) youth pastors video has blown up into an international movement of conservative Christians going to Starbucks and, upon being asked by the barista their name to be written on the cup, saying “Merry Christmas”, forcing Starbucks to acknowledge the reason for the season. Brilliant plan! Or not. There are a number of things that I want to point out as an evangelical Christian.

First, this “subversive” campaign is anything but subversive. Instead of doing anything productive to get their point across to Starbucks (not that there is any legitimate point to make), this youth pastor has caused thousands of conservative Christian to grace the doors of their local Starbucks any buy coffee. That’s right. In order to stick it to Starbucks, conservative Christians are going and buying coffee, just so they can force their barista to write “Merry Christmas” on the cup. So, in all actuality, this campaign is actually helping, not hurting, Starbucks. So Starbucks, on behalf of Christians, you’re welcome for this unexpected and unusual marketing campaign! 😉

Second, it should be noted that Starbucks has never had religiously oriented cups. Their a commercial coffee shop. They have no religious agenda. Their annual red cups have featured a wide range of winter designs in the past, from reindeer to snowflakes, but, contrary to what Feuerstein seems to believe, they’ve never had pictures of sweet baby Jesus or bible verses printed on them. Why would they? They are a secular company, serving customers of thousands of different religious and cultural backgrounds? They’re just trying be festive and get in the spirit this season where so many major holidays occur for so many people of different faith traditions. And yet, because their cups don’t specifically acknowledge our faith, we feel the need to be petty Scrooges and cause an uproar. Dear God, what is wrong with us?

Third, if this is what conservative Christians are spending their time on, they clearly have lost sight of what matters most. Our world is fraught with turmoil and strife. Children are dying everyday for lack of food, wars and famines are ripping across nations around the world, and millions of people still need to hear and see the Gospel lived out before their eyes. And yet, hundreds of thousands of American Christians are wasting their time and resources protesting a coffee shop for not having explicitly Christian coffee cups? This is what we’re spending our limited time and resources in the world doing? This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting. And more than that, it’s freaking embarrassing. Is it any wonder that Christians have such a bad wrap in our culture? People like Feuerstein and their futile culture warring make Christians look like we have nothing to offer the world. But we actually do have Good News to proclaim and to demonstrate. We have a message with substance and hope. A message that is supposed to be “Good news of great joy for all people.” (Luke 2:10) But looking at this latest debacle, you’d never know it.

Lastly, if you need your Starbucks coffee cup to say “Merry Christmas” in order for you to feel validated in your faith, that says something about you and your faith, not Starbucks or the so-called “War on Christmas”. Followers of Jesus are supposed to live as subversive agents of the Kingdom of God in a world that is fundamentally opposed to the Kingdom of God. The way we bring about transformation is not nor has it ever been by Christianizing our culture. We should not be seeking validation from companies, educational institutions, or governments. We are not supposed to have the approval or blessing of the “world”. Instead, our call is to shine the light of the Gospel to our world through living lives of radical, unconditional, self-sacrificial love, considering others as better than ourselves and encouraging our world with the Good News of Jesus that has captured our hearts. If that’s not the focus and heart of your faith, then you really need to consider who or what it is you’re following. Because you might just find that what you’re actually worshipping is your own position of cultural privilege and power, not Jesus.

So that’s my two cents. I literally am stunned and saddened that this is actually a thing that’s happening. But I am also aware that this is a moment for true followers of Jesus to shine. It’s a moment for the true spirit of the season to be manifest through us. So today, sacrifice that cup of coffee you’d normally buy and give that money to someone in need. Do something productive in your world. Something that brings a little more of the Kingdom of God to earth as it is in heaven. If we can all do that, Christ will be more glorified than he ever would be by having his name written on a coffee cup.