I don’t go to Starbucks…not very often anyway. It has
nothing to do with my religious beliefs or whether or not the company has taken
a stand on issues that I agree or disagree with. I just plain don’t like coffee
or coffee flavored things. Yes, they make some amazing hot chocolate, but it’s
been 90 degrees here in Florida and that doesn’t exactly make me want to run
across town for a piping hot beverage. They also have tasty frozen drinks, but
if I want a milkshake, I’ll go to Steak and Shake. Since my trips to Starbucks
are so infrequent and the most I see of their disposable cups is from the
newsfeeds of my friends who enjoy their drinks and post pictures of them, I was
unaware that, as a conservative Christian, I was offended by an undecorated red
cup until social media informed me. I was also unaware that said undecorated
cup was any different from last year’s cups which I also didn’t see. For that
matter, I didn’t even know that Starbucks had special seasonal cups to go with
their seasonal flavors which I have never tasted but have heard much about. I
feel like my head has been buried in the sand on coffee related things that
seem to be of the utmost importance based on how much I’ve seen in my newsfeed
this week. I think the only time I’ve seen so much chatter about Starbucks in
two days on social media is every year when the “fall flavors” are out.
Apparently this pumpkin spiced latte is a popular seller. The funny thing about
the red cup issue is that even though everyone is saying how conservative
Christians are offended by them removing Christmas from their cups (which from
what I’ve heard never actually had any graphics or words with a Christian
Christmas message to begin with), not a single one of my conservative Christian
friends have posted that they’re offended. They think it’s as ridiculous as I do,
and unlike me, the ones who enjoy coffee are still going to Starbucks and
buying their drinks even if they’re poured into the undecorated red cups.
What??? No boycott like the media has led everyone to believe? Of my hundreds of
Christian friends, not a single one has posted that they’re offended by a cup.
Imagine that. I’ve seen plenty of posts
from my non-religious friends bashing petty Christians who get offended by
cups, but I have to wonder how many of them actually know any Christians who
are offended by a cup. Whoever it was that started this offended by an
undecorated cup thing, I wish they’d find better things to worry about and keep
their mouth shut about stupidity like this. As a Christian, I don’t want to be
associated with people who get easily offended by cups. I want people to know
me by how I treat people, by showing them God’s love. John 13:35 says, “By this
all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” It
doesn’t say that all will know we are His disciples if we take a stand against
undecorated cups or whatever petty thing Christians are being accused of being
offended by this week. We should be known for our love for one another.
Christmas has nothing to do with cups, snowflakes,
ornaments or presents anyway. Many might associate those with Christmas since
Christmas has been commercialized to the point where it’s no longer
recognizable for what it original was – and what it should be. It’s about what
took place a little over 2000 years ago in a stable in Bethlehem. The Son of
God took on the form of a human and became a baby, born into the most humble of
circumstances. There were no gifts, no royal dignitaries present for the birth,
no stockings over the mantle, and certainly no Santa Claus. The only visitors
to see the new baby were a group of shepherds who had been told by the angels
about His birth. People have been claiming that the undecorated cup is part of
a “war on Christmas”…or at least that Christians say that it is (and again I
wonder where they’re finding these Christians that make such statements). While
many things might be considered a “war on Christmas”, I don’t believe a cup is
one of them. The first thing that I would consider to be a war on Christmas
took place when Jesus was around the age of 2. Wise men (of an unmentioned
number) from the East read the prophecies and followed a star to Bethlehem to
find the baby who, according to the prophecies, would be the King of the Jews.
Since he had the title of King, they started out at the palace. King Herod knew
nothing of Jesus or His birth, but didn’t want someone else with claim to his
throne. The wise men went on to find Jesus, and Herod got his advisors to find
out where to find Him so that he could kill Him. Jesus and His family escaped,
and the wise men went home rather than reporting back to Herod where exactly
Jesus was. Matthew 2:16 says, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by
the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the
male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years
old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.”
Since Jesus is the reason for Christmas, it could be said that Herod tried to
wage war on Christmas. He may not have killed Jesus, but many baby boys were
killed. He makes the Grinch and all the other “Christmas story bad guys”
(included Starbucks as some are said to think I suppose) seem like Santa’s
elves in comparison…and unlike the Grinch, Santa, and the elves, Herod was real
and really did have all the baby boys killed in an effort to eliminate what he
perceived as a threat to his throne. That’s a war on Christmas. A red cup is
not. The commercialism of Christmas and the political correctness that make it
nearly taboo to even say “Merry Christmas” aren’t either in my opinion. They’re
just distractions. Yes, some of them are fun like the gift giving (notice, I
said giving, not receiving), but they aren’t what it’s really about. Christmas
is about Jesus coming to earth and bringing salvation, hope, joy, sacrificial
love and so much more. We give each other gifts at Christmas and the wise men
brought Jesus gifts, but those are no comparison to the gifts that Jesus gives us
if we are willing to accept Him. Romans 3:23 says, “For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians
2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God,” Wow. Can any other gift really compare to
the gift of salvation and eternal life? Jesus sacrificed His own life so that
he could give that gift to anyone who would accept it. That was the whole
reason He came to earth as a baby so many years ago. That’s what Christmas is
all about. Let’s show the world that we are His followers, not by denouncing a
coffee company and its cups, but by showing His love to those around us.
