I am just sick of red cups and this whole dumb controversy!
So why even bring it up again you ask?  (Some of you are so tired of reading blog article after blog article about this topic) Why even mention anything about “red cups” or “Starbucks” or “Christmas”?
Please bear with me for a few minutes as we ponder together on this topic one last time.  This isn’t the first time that “Christians” have spoken out on rather silly issues.  I think it stems much deeper than a simple red cup devoid of snowflakes.

Today, I want to share with you 3 things about these red cups that has me seeing red, and perhaps you should be seeing red too…

Here’s why –

1. It’s A Poor Witness – 
Fellow Christians, is this red cup issue really something we need to be investing our time and effort on?
Is it really a social justice issue?
Is it really worth our time?
Is it really serving to help bring to focus the birth of Christ to our world?
In actuality, I think this outcry only serves to detract from our witness.
People read about all of these outraged Christians and wonder – Is this what Christian’s want to be known for? Some of these protests by supposed “Christians” have been mean and they often have come across as downright unloving.

If I were a person on the outside looking in on this whole “controversy”, I would probably be scratching my head and wondering why these cups have stirred such an outrage in the Church.  I believe the outcry really represents a very poor witness to a world with much bigger problems than what types of cups we put our coffee in or what a non-Christian company does or does not put on their coffee cups (snow flakes…really?!).

2.  There Are Bigger Moral Issues To Tackle – 
Our world still struggles with extreme poverty, starvation, famine and disease, this “cup” issue should be a moot point in the Christians realm.  Seriously?  Why are we spending so much time on the topic when human trafficking still exists, and when children in the United States and Canada still go home hungry from school?  There a much bigger fish to fry than this utterly dumb topic.  I only write on this today because I’m sick of it and in some ways I’m embarrassed that  this is what some Christians spend time clambering about.

Where are these same voices when we read of Christians being martyred in regions around the world?  Where are these same voices when we hear of people in our own neighborhoods struggling to put food on the table for their families?   Why isn’t there more of an outcry from these same voices when children in our communities face gang violence and bullies in our schools?  How can we fight a war on red cups when in our own backyard there are lives from all backgrounds struggling with addictions, and with sins?

3.  Something About Glass Houses and Throwing Stones – 
I don’t wish to sound mean or condescending, but in a very real way. this criticism seems hypocritical and pointless.
In the vein of the 2 points, I think we have to be very careful as Christians which wars we decide to engage in within the context of our world.  We would be hypocrites to decry this cup issue and be absolutely silent on other pivotal, more pressing issues around us.  How can we condemn a cup devoid of snowflakes and yet not fight for the dignity of all human life?

It almost seems as if we’re looking down on this coffee company and judging them by our standards, when in all likelihood, our worldview doesn’t match.
It’s one thing to hold the standard high for other believers around us, which is called accountability, but a completely different thing to expect people (and companies) from a different ideology to fall in line with beliefs they may not hold.  At the root of this whole debate is the notion that everyone must walk, think, and act like we do…but its that the reality of our world?  No, I don’t think it is.

Secondly, internally, don’t we have more pressing spiritual worries to consider in our own lives?
Romans 14:4 says this; “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Another few precious verses to consider – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:29-32

We still have our own Salvation to work out.
We still have our own personal battles that we fight today.
Let’s first tackle those internal issues before we decry the issues around us.

Philippians 2:12 says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”

Dear Christians,
we have more pressing things to do in this life than worry about the color of a cup and its design.
Pick your battles wisely because they will define you, and I feel this isn’t one we should be focusing on.
I’m sick and tired of this debate, so please stop!
I feel it’s only hurting our witness, not improving it.
Our efforts should be used more efficiently elsewhere, so let’s united together to fight poverty, clean water for everyone in our world, the Salvation of the lost, and bringing hope and love to our neighborhoods through genuine care and compassion.

Something more to ponder today!

JOY

When asked if I would write on joy, I felt a bit ill-equipped to write on this topic.  I’ve never considered myself the optimistic, happy-go-lucky joyful type.  Throughout various times in my life, I have tried to make a commitment to be joyful, but then my negativity gets the best of me.

However, whenever I think of being joyful, my mind always goes to Psalm 30:7, “Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.”  There’s something about that verse that gives me a bit of hope.

In 2009, Christian artist, Steven Curtis Chapman, released an album entitled, “Beauty Will Rise” with a song by the same title.  The song was inspired by the tragic event of his 5 year old daughter’s death the year before.  The song starts out by recalling the day, “It was the day the world went wrong/I screamed til my voice was gone/And watched through the tears/as everything came crashing down/Slowly panic turns to pain/As we awake to what remains/And shifts through the ashes/That are left behind”

Although, not all of us have lost a child, we have all had that moment where everything went wrong.  Our world, for a time period stops spinning, and we are left standing still, stunned…  while the rest of the world moves past us without a thought.  Perhaps it was a death of a loved one.  Perhaps it was a loss of a job.  Perhaps it’s coming to terms with the past.  Whatever it is, we’ll call it ashes.  Ashes to shift through that no one wants even look at.  It’s dirty, mucky work, that can leave us feeling burdened.

The song proclaims that out of the ashes beauty will rise.  Something wonderful, beautiful and glorious will come out of whatever our ashes are, but in the midst of shifting through the ashes, can we even glimpse to the future to find hope or joy?  It may seem difficult, but I do think it’s possible.

The end of the song brings these lyrics, “I can see it in the distance/and it’s not so far away/It’s the music and the laughter of a wedding and a feast/I can almost feel the hand of the God reaching for my face/To wipe the tears away/You say, “It’s time to make everything new”/This is our hope/This is a promise/And it will take our breath away to see the beauty that’s been made out of these ashes.”

Although, I’ve struggle to find joy at all times in my life, I do have to say, the thought of Christ’s return has always brought me joy.  There’s this bubbling energy inside of me that screams to escape out my mouth.  It makes me want to scream it from the top of the mountains, or dance like David (only, I promise to keep my clothes on J ). It reminds me, that this world that’s full of pain, sorrow, and hurt is not a world that has had the last word.  It is a world that still has hope which breeds joy.  For me, hope and joy go together.  I cannot have one without the other.  There is a day, where the old will be gone, and the new will come.  I’m joyful and excited about that!  Can it just happen, now?  Already?

So, on the days of struggling to get my class assignments done, my e-mails answered, phone calls returned, trying to find the right words for questions that may have no answer, counseling those who come in my office with tears, and as I fight through my own personal battles, I am reminded, this is not my home.  There is a day, when it will all be new!

And that brings me hope.  That’s what brings me joy!