When a Red Cup Isn’t Just a Red Cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay first things first-I happen to be a Christian that drinks Starbucks coffee.  I’m aware that many Believers don’t do this, and would view my buying coffee from them as wrong, and aware that they don’t hold to a Christian worldview (being anti-family and anti-military).  However this gives opportunities to develop relationships with unbelievers in the community and share the Gospel.

Being a starbucks drinker I found myself shaking my head more than once over the last week and saying “seriously?  It’s just a cup!”  Of course I am referring to the fact that “merry Christmas” is no longer on the Starbucks red holiday cup this year.

Those who have begun boycotting Starbucks and speaking against them would respond to my confusion/frustration by saying “it’s not about the cup”…and they actually have a point.

Now some may be angry just because the word “Christmas” is left off a cup.  But behind the anger is a much more terrifying message; We are no longer a Christian nation.

There was a time when Bible believing Christians were the moral majority in America and had a great amount of influence upon the culture.  Sadly today that’s no longer true.  Now instead of having a loud and clear voice we are finding our cultural voices silenced in favor of the new moral majority (the LGBT community)

In a way the Starbucks red cup is a reminder that we no longer hold the political power or influence Christians once had.  And unlike other things (like the court decisions on marriage) Believers can DO SOMETHING about this through social-media and their personal choices.

But the holiday cup goes even deeper than that because it affects our relationship with the culture.  After learning we aren’t the moral majority anymore Christians have three choices.

1. We can stand for Christian convictions
2. We can admit to the fact that we have no influence and just consume what the culture gives us
3. Or we can ignore the fact that our culture is no longer Christian

I’m not going to come out here and tell everyone what to do in this situation (there are plenty of people doing that already) but instead am making the point that we need to realize our time as the moral majority is over.  So instead of waiting for people to come to us we must prayerfully take the Gospel to them.

Maybe the red cups more than anything illustrate the fact that our world is broken, and doesn’t even realize it.  And each red cup should be a fresh vision of that brokenness motivating us to share the Glorious Gospel of Christ.