The Huffington Post reports, “A Christian pastor is asking customers to boycott Starbucks due to the company’s support of a bill to legalize gay marriage in Washington state…”
A few people have asked me about this boycott so I thought it might be helpful to explain why I’m drinking a big, steaming cup of Starbucks right now.
We live in a culture that is rejecting the Bible more and more. Our main task is to make disciples. Laws and company policies will change at a fundamental level when the leaders of those companies believe in Jesus. Boycotts are usually promoted by people who never actually lead anyone to Christ. They are not mainly concerned with making disciples, they’re just mad that people don’t agree with them, they pine for the good old days, and they’re cranky and judgmental. I would tell that person to get his eyes back on the ball.
But that’s a church mission strategy argument. I realize the main question is on a different level. People want to know if the Bible requires us to boycott Starbucks, or if God would be pleased by a boycott, etc. I’ll handle the question in two ways, first to expose the impossibility of boycotting culture, and then to make a Biblical case.
First, if we have to boycott Starbucks for supporting homosexuality, then we have to boycott culture. Will you buy a sandwich from a Hindu? Will you wear a shirt that was made in a communist country? Will you interview your taxi driver to make sure his wife didn’t have an abortion? It’s ludicrous logic. Maybe we should boycott freeways since they were Hitler’s idea. Or maybe I should refuse to use a calendar since the day and months were named after Greek and Roman gods? It’s fine with me if someone want’s to boycott a company for any reason – I personally don’t like shopping at Eddie Bauer because my grandpa knew Eddie’s dad and he told me stories. But we live in a culture filled with non-Christians. The Bible never tells us to avoid their shops. If the Bible did require this, we would have to live on the moon.
But here’s the Biblical argument. God made those coffee beans and there’s nothing anyone can do to take away God’s ownership of them. He made the beans and it glorifies Him when we enjoy those beans. I get this argument from Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians chapters 8 and 10 where Paul addressed the issue of meat sacrificed to idols. In Paul’s day, pagan religions sold the meat they used in religious ceremonies. Some Christians thought it was wrong to eat that meat, assuming it had been tainted by evil. But Paul says, “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For ’the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof’” (1 Co. 10:25-26). His point is this: no false religion can take meat ownership away from God. He is always the ultimate owner. Even if it was cooked on the alter of a false god, it’s just good barbecued meat, who cares if a fool cooked it. Eat it and enjoy it. It doesn’t matter that it was used in a religious ritual, and it doesn’t matter that you’re giving your money to a false religion when you buy it. That meat belongs to God. That’s why my belly is filled with Starbucks right now. It’s God’s coffee and I don’t care who sells it to me.
But there’s a wrinkle. In those same three Bible passages on meat sacrificed to idols, Paul talks about a “weaker brother.” He’s talking about someone who doesn’t understand that meat can’t be tainted by evil. If this confused believer sees you eating it, he might violate his own conscience by eating it too. He might do something that he thinks is sinful because he sees you doing it. He is “weaker” in the sense that his conscience is weak; he does what he thinks is wrong. It is always sinful to do what we think is sin, even though it might not actually be sin. ”Whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith” (Rom. 14:23). So, says Paul, don’t cause your brother to stumble in his faith by leading him to do something he thinks (mistakenly) is wrong. ”It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble” (Rom 14:21).
The challenge of that verse is that people notoriously abuse it. It’s usually those cranky, judgmental types who say, “See, you can’t drink Starbucks because someone might stumble.” So then you have to think: Is it actually possible that a person might violate his weak conscience if he sees me drinking Starbucks? Personally, I don’t see that happening. More likely, the person who thinks it’s sin will be the cranky, judgmental type who will get mad at me for disagreeing with him. That’s different! He won’t be likely to violate his conscience by drinking; he’ll be likely to criticize me for being a liberal. And that’s a great time to go buy a Grande Caramel Macchiato and guzzle it right in front of him. Because he’s adding a command to Scripture. ”Thou shalt not drink Starbucks.” Tell that person to stuff it and mind his own business.
Cornerstone’s elders spend a lot of time talking about shepherding. I’m not claiming to be good at it, but we’re passionate about it. We want to shepherd well, and we want to equip lots of people to shepherd well.
