What is it about November and December that gets people so hyper-sensitive and ready to burn people or companies at the stake because of a difference in beliefs? If its not Bill O’Reilly’s annual bit about how there’s a war on Christmas, it’s something different.
Right now it’s a cup that is causing a stir in our country. A cup, yes. A cup. Wow. Have you heard about it? Just see all the news stories about it here. Here’s the short and skinny: Starbucks changed their November and December coffee cup from having a festive logo on it that featured snowflakes and reindeer to a plain red cup.
A red cup! How dare they take off reindeer and snowflakes! Yeah, because reindeer and snowflakes are about Jesus and taking them off of a cup is a clear sign that Starbucks hates Jesus. Yes, it makes so much sense.
A Starbucks Cup Waging War on Christmas?
If a cup is ruining your Christmas, you may not be following the real Christ. It’s hard for me to come up with words to describe how petty and ridiculous this outrage is against Starbucks that they have changed their cups.
News stories like this belong on The Onion, not on national news outlets. In other words, this shouldn’t be a real thing. But sadly it is.
If Christians would get as fired up about Jesus as they do a Starbucks cup, we might actually make a difference.[shareable]If a cup is ruining your Christmas, you may not be following the real Christ.[/shareable][shareable]If Christians would get as fired up about Jesus as they do a Starbucks cup, we might actually make a difference.[/shareable]
Focus on Things That Matter, Please
As I was sitting down to write this, I checked my Twitter feed to see how many people were either complaining about the cup or speaking some sense into the situation. The first thing I saw was this:
I’ll worry about if Starbucks says Merry Christmas as soon as we Christians find homes for all orphans, comfort all widows & feed all poor.
— Jon Acuff (@JonAcuff) November 9, 2015
Heck, I’m not sure I would even worry about it then. But I share this sentiment. [callout]Want to know God in a deeper way? I just released a FREE 4 week audio course + daily devotional called, Journey. Get your copy today![/callout]
Hyper-Sensitivity Breeds Laughable Outrage
Russell Moore wrote a piece that everyone who is in outrage about the Starbucks cups should read. It’s called The Difference Between Being Offended and Being Persecuted.
We live in a culture of hyper-sensitivity. It’s not only unattractive in every respect, but it also results in quite laughable situations (like this one).
Starbucks is not waging war on Christmas. They may not care about Christmas, sure. But waging war? Hating Jesus? Meh, I doubt it.
America Isn’t a Christian Nation
If people, Christians especially, would come to terms with the fact that we don’t live in a Christian nation (whatever that means), we wouldn’t expect every company and individual to celebrate Christmas. Or to care about the meaning behind Christmas.
I’m all for telling the actual Christmas story, but let us not expect everyone else to believe the same as we do. After all, we live in a nation which has the freedom of religion which means anyone can follow any religion they choose. They’re not obligated to follow Christ in this country. So stop acting like they are.
Can We Just Drink Coffee and Worry About God’s Business?
You want coffee? Cool. Go drink it. And then go worry about God’s business here on earth.
And let’s stop giving the world more moments of Christian hyper-sensitivity. Let’s go make a difference. A real one. One that goes beyond what is on a cup. [shareable]Let’s go make a difference. A real one. One that goes beyond what is on a cup.[/shareable]
