Starbucks and Complaining Christians

I used to love the white chocolate peppermint mocha, venti, with soy milk.  Then I found out it weighed in at over a whopping 600 calories and I decided my beverage of choice needed some tweaking.  I now order the tall sugar free vanilla latte with soy milk and a shot of peppermint because this cuts me back to a 2 mile run in caloric exchanges.  Mississippi has many faults though, one being a serious shortage of civilization including such places as Target and Starbucks, so I can only indulge in my hot frothy friends when we go on breaks.  The recent news media has been saying silly things about how the Starbucks CEO said something about how people who believed in traditional marriage could take their business elsewhere, although that is not what he said, and lots of "Christians" are blowing this way out of proportion and acting angry about it.  You can read more about the truth of the situation from here and here.  I like the opinions in those two articles and I'd like to add my own thoughts on this.  I do not like to post long things on facebook, so I don't.  I rarely "rant" anywhere, but this is going to be one.

I am so sick of Christians acting like they can only understand/be friends with/relate to people who are just like them.  This is NOT what God calls anyone to do, and it is simply an extension of making "clicks" in high school - the adult version of "I shun you because you aren't exactly like me" is NOT any cooler than the middle and high school version.  Hateful comments are hateful, mean and hurtful no matter how old you are.  Political and religious differences can create meaningful discussions and useful new opinions and information.  Political and religious differences should NOT cause adults to act like bratty children and bullies.  People seriously underestimate how AWESOME other people can be EVEN THOUGH they have very different political and religious beliefs.  I personally have some wonderful friends, whom I love and cherish and keep in touch with, who have little in common with me in the areas of politics and religion.  I also have Christian prayer warrior friends whom I love as well.  God did not create us to only love those who live like we do.  He NEVER said, "You should only be nice and kind to people who look and act like you."  On the contrary, MULTIPLE times He said to LOVE others.  Others = All people who may look and act very differently than you do or believe what is right and wrong.  Here's a few examples:

Matthew 22:36-40

English Standard Version (ESV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Luke 10:26-27

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Romans 12:9

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.

I feel very strongly that more than ever the "church" as in the body of Christ, aka all Christians, is looking and growing INWARD - as in making the physical building cool and pretty, and doing "fun" things, and "playing church" instead of actually being the body of Christ by helping and loving OUTWARD - as in meeting new people outside of church, going on meaningful mission trips with a real group of people (seriously big churches - you have 300 people in Sunday School and only 21 go on a mission trip?) and loving people where they are instead of pitying them and acting "holier than thou."  I know that not everyone can afford to go on mission trips (honestly, I've wanted to go on mission trips so many times and they've been cancelled, or the group wasn't big enough so we couldn't go, or other weird things that stopped me even though I was ready and willing to put up the money and time for it) and that lots of churches do have meaningful outreach programs.  However, look at the percentage of the church members who are actually participating in those outreach programs: if you have 90% attendance on Sunday morning, but only 10% of people show up to do a local, free mission project (like going to a soup kitchen or doing a VBS outreach in a poor neighborhood), I believe that at least 50% of those in attendance aren't really serious about their faith and probably only pick up their Bible on Sunday.  I'm giving the other 30% of people the benefit of the doubt that they really did have to work, or there was no childcare available for a single parent, or a plausible reason other than the BS truth that "I just didn't feel like it."

I think the outrage and hatred toward people of different political and religious beliefs is never more obvious than in that 60% of fake Christians who think that by showing up on Sunday morning, they're doing Jesus a favor.  It's the whole '10% of the church is doing 90% of the work/outreach.'  I won't even start on James 1:27 - all versions and what the church is missing out on by not supporting more orphan and widow ministries.

Here's what I am trying to say:  If you SAY you are a Christian, then LIVE like Christ by showing LOVE to ALL people.

Don't read too deeply into this.  I am not saying we should legalize gay marriage.  I am saying we don't have to be so freaking mean about it.  Jesus died for them too.  I still love Chick-fil-A, and have really loved dressing up our foster kids to look like cows on "Cow Appreciation Day" so we can eat free food.  I will also still drink coffee from Starbucks, and never forget the first date I had there in Huntsville with my husband, or the mentoring times I had at a Starbucks in Memphis with a cool teenage girl.

This is a very good article on how same-sex marriage may affect Christians. Jimmy Needham's Blog

It's more about the way you live your life, and less about the list of things you hate.  Let. It. Go. Move. On. Share. Love.

Real Love