Starbucks Cups and Keeping Christ in Christmas

The start of the 2015 Christmas season was heralded not by songs of heavenly angels, but rather by a social media-fueled furor over the design of Starbucks’ red holiday cups. A rant posted on Facebook by Joshua Feuerstein, a self described “American evangelist, internet and social media personality,” on November 5th, complaining that Starbucks had removed any allusions to Christmas from its holiday cups, quickly went viral. This rant spawned a passionate debate over not only the design of the cups, but also the complicated relationship between capitalism, culture, Christianity, and the church.

We hear different variations of these complaints and concerns all around. Bumperstickers that say keep Christ in Christmas. Laments from some about saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.”

Are these part of a “war on Christmas” as some have said, or a needed correction as we live in an increasingly pluralistic, religiously diverse world?

Must we depend on corporations like Starbucks to prop up our Christmas observances, or is that the work of the church and individual Christians?

How do we keep Christ in Christmas? Is it by what appears on our coffee cups, or keeping Christ in our hearts, and letting the love of Christ flow through us in our words and deeds—as suggested by the image below.

Has Christmas become too consumeristic? Too focused on stuff? Too busy? How do we get to the heart of this season—a child born in a manger because their was no room in the inn—a simple and beautiful scene and story.