Starbucks Spirituality and Postmodernism: The Benefits and Dangers

I never was big into coffee growing up. It wasn’t until I was in College that I actually started to like coffee. My brother introduced me to my first coffee drink, White Chocolate Mocha, it is my preferred choice unless of course I am at my parents house and then I put in some Baileys Irish Cream! 🙂 I’m not a huge fan of plain coffee taste. But I’m not here today to talk about my likes and dislikes of Coffee. I’m here to talk to you about what I have learned by attending and reading books on this subject. Two books that have affected the way I have come to think about the issue before us are: Ministry Mutiny: A Youth Leader Fable by Greg Stier. Yes you did here that right, this is one of the books that have affected the way I think about the issue that I am addressing in this post. Also it is one of my favorite books on Youth Ministry! The other is the The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion by Leonard Sweet.

Now Before we get into these books and just how I have been influenced by them let talk about what I mean by Starbucks Spirituality and Postmodernism.

Now you can pretty much make any combination of drink you want at Starbucks. It is rather interesting to be completely honest with you. This kind of make it yourself perspective, is very pervasive in our culture today in America. It is especially true in people who describe themselves as postmodern. In the postmodernist world today everything is valid. There is no ultimate truth, everything is subjective, and this kind of thing gets played out in religion…. but ohh wait it isn’t religion anymore… the cool word is Spirituality… That’s the new religion. You hear it all the time. I’m not religious, I’m just spiritual. We have people today, who don’t really hold to a certain set beliefs like Christianity or Buddhism or Judaism or Islam. What we see, is a lot of mixing of religious beliefs, picking and choosing, essentially creating our own Super Hip Spirituality! Thus welcome to the stage: Starbucks Spirituality!

So of you may be thinking, if you are a Jesus person like me, “How is there any benefit in Starbucks Spirituality?” Good question! Here is my answer: people who in fact are proponents of Starbucks Spirituality has studied different religious beliefs, enough to know somewhat to know what they stand for, and what they claim! This good news for Christians, especially those who do study different religions, but not necessarily proponents for Starbucks Spirituality. We need to address this issue to people of how vastly different this religious claims are! Yes they do have similar moral codes, but that is simply because, God has written the Moral Law into our hearts! We know what is Right and what is Wrong!

The thing that I find most dangerous about this Starbucks Spirituality, is that it claims that anything goes, everything is valid. But is that true! No it isn’t! That’s like saying, “Your truth is true for you, and my truth is is true for me, and both are valid!” But what if my truth says yours is a lie is it still true? While a lot of people claim that everything is relative, they forget the fact that this statement, “Everything is relative,” is set up as a ultimate truth statement for everyone and therefore, they claim that this truth is actually the ultimate truth, and that it isn’t relative at all but subjective. Therefore the statement if true self-defeats it’s own claim!

Now this kind of thinking leads us into postmodernism! What is postmodernism? Paul Copan in this website: http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbnew.aspx?pageid=8589952823, states that postmodernism “is deeply skeptical about (or suspicious of) big explanatory systems or stories. It is also critical of any view that claims to be neutral, unbiased, or rational.” However I believe as this website, http://www.christianity.co.nz/truth5.htm, so states:

Postmodernism does not rule out religion as did modernism, with its emphasis on human reason. However, the religions that are approved are very different from Christianity. You may believe what you want to. Go for what makes you feel good. Religion is cafeteria style. You choose what you like from what is spread in front of you, and put a meal together that suits your taste. There are strong links with paganism.

Thus we see again Starbucks Spirituality creeping back into the postmodern belief system.

What can we say about the benefits of both Starbucks Spirituality and Postmodernism:

To answer this question let us look at one of the books that have shaped my thinking about this. The book that we will be looking at is The Gospel According to Starbucks. Leonard Sweet, who wrote the book talks about something he calls the EPIC life! EPIC stands for: Experience, Participation, Images, Connections.

I am a very logical person, I think with my mind, most people do think with their minds for the most part but some people think also with their emotions and by their experiences as well! When we as Christians enter into Starbucks we need to understand that people don’t just go to Starbucks just to get a drink they go there for the experience! I know I do, I never go to Starbucks just by myself. Now there have been times when I would go there to meet someone there and then staying there waiting for 40 minutes and finally giving up, sad that someone would  stand me up for some reason or another and not even call or text me! Now there has been a time when I stood someone up. I felt terrible. It’s not fun being stood up! We need to use this fact of people going to Starbucks for the experience for everything that surrounds the cup of coffee. As this website, http://www.christianbooksummaries.com/library/v3/cbs0336.pdf states:

People are willing to pay a premium price for Starbucks coffee because they are purchasing an entire experience. It’s not a new kind of coffee; it’s a new kind of coffee-drinking encounter. Instead of apologizing for coffee that may be scalding hot, Starbucks adds a warning label and a ther- mal jacket to help you enjoy the experience. In our spiritual lives, how often do we “apologize” for our lives by toning them down and making them more safe and comfortable for people? Jesus didn’t call us to a faith built on comfort and safety. In fact, He says that those who are neither cold nor hot will be spit out of His mouth.

Wow let us read this question again and let it sink in: “In our spiritual lives, how often do we “apologize” for our lives by toning them down and making them more safe and comfortable for people?” That question should hit all of us in the stomach! We need to start becoming more refreshing or on fire for the Lord! The church in America is so dry, that we are loosing our young people as soon as they graduate from school! It is time for us to rethink the way we do church in America! What we have been doing hasn’t been working for the most part!

Lets talk now about participation! I’m sure all of you can agree with me when I say that the best experiences in life have been the ones that we plunge in and participate in those events. The same is true in our Christian walks. To be a Christian means to participate in the body of Christ! Now we don’t necessarily have to go to church, in order to be a Christian. But if we claim that our allegiance is to Christ, he is calling us into community with each other, he is calling us to be active participants of His Church, and active participants of His Kingdom, that is still moving into and through this world! It started when he was born and it is still happening! Now think about it why are shows like American Idol, or the The X Factor so popular? Participation! “Millions of people watch and vote for American Idol winners~ And the number of people casting votes for these shows competes with the number participating in presidential elections,” so says the same website that I quoted above! Now think about Starbucks for a second. In this same article it states: “Starbucks has recognized and taken advantage of the trend, giving us the interactive karaoke experience by letting us customize and choose the products they serve. It doesn’t have to be on the menu any more.” This is so true I can walk in with any creation of coffee and they will make it.

Now think of the church especially in America! We go to church! America stop going to church! Stop it! We need to start becoming the church. I’m also guilty of this, and I need to repent with the rest of you! Church listen, the Lord Jesus didn’t come onto this earth just so that we can go to church to be entertained, and get fat from spiritual food without investing in another younger brother or sister in Christ!

Images have power!

As we can see from the above photo just how this photo affects our emotions. This photo was taken in Vietnam by Nick Ut, right after a Napalm attack. Throughout history images have drawn us to them! Starbucks understand this. Starbucks doesn’t just show the Starbucks logo, which has been controversial, but they also show fragments of stories and words of wisdom from various authors!

I live in Bellingham and I go to Hillcrest Chapel and I applaud them for understanding the power of images! They have a wonderful collection of artists there. I’m not saying that there aren’t any other churches who use the power of images.

Whenever I go to Starbucks, I go there with the intention of connecting with someone. Which leads us to the last word of the EPIC life! That word being connections! God created us to be social people! How many times have we just gone to church and then leaving right after the service? Or how many of us just have imaginary friends on Facebook and never really true friends? I have had a many of great conversations over coffee! And sometimes not. But Starbucks has created the ambiance for great conversations to take place.

To all church leaders leaders let me ask you this question: If Jesus came into your church would you allow him to come in even though the blood and the dirt might stain the carpet? I believe a lot of the time we are overprotective of the carpet from food and drink inside of our nice carpeted sanctuaries. I understand the desire to keep them at the best condition possible. But think about that question. What would you do if you saw the crucified Lord standing in the back of your church dripping blood on those nice carpets? Or better yet what if it was a homeless man who was just attacked and had stumbled his way into your church? Would you immediately stop everything and call 911 and make sure he gets the proper care… oh but wait we have to keep on schedule, we have another service coming up! Here is my question: Are you willing to allow your service to be interrupted by the Holy Spirit, or are you so concerned in keeping on time so you can have another service on time?

In the website that I have mentioned above states:

One of the most important questions asked in business is whether or not a customer would recom- mend or refer someone else. That simple hypothetical question can show quite a bit about the future success of a company…or a church. There are many who began by picketing companies like Starbucks who now frequent them as customers instead. It provided a place for them to gather and discuss their concerns in an open environment. Providing a place for face-to-face conversations is a surefire way to let people feel like part of a community and keep them coming back.

The Church has an opportunity to open its doors to the public and invite people to find relationships that will be meaningful and fulfill- ing. People need a communal place that will offer them safety and con- nectedness. One church walked this idea out by genuinely putting their space at the disposal of the congregation. The church provided coffee and doughnuts for a break in the meeting and when people were hesitant to rejoin the meeting, the pastor finally said, “Bring your coffee and doughnuts, and add your stain to everyone else’s.” The carpet became a part of a greater message that the pastor was sending.

We are in much need today in America for churches who are willing to open their doors and keep them open! The only way we can make a difference in this country is if we realize just how to live the EPIC life and how to challenge our postmodern culture and how to help proponents of Starbucks Spirituality realize that religions although are similar in their moral laws they are very different the deeper you dig into them.