Starbuckization

A recent entry in Dr. James Emery White's blog  on Starbucks caught my attention.  Starbucks is everywhere these days, even in our small town of Kokomo, IN.  White notes that Starbucks is so popular that it is even a selling point for realtors: "This house I want to show you is near a Starbucks" (my quote, not White's).

But Starbucks wants to move beyond selling primo coffee and providing a "third place" to meet and interact with people.  They want a stake in pop culture.  More pointedly, they want to shape pop culture.  As White notes,

"'Like Oprah Winfrey, Starbucks is emerging as a self-appointed culture guru," writes USA Today. And with 7,950 stores in the United States alone, and a long-term goal of 15,000 U.S. stores (and 30,000 globally), its self-appointed status is not to be taken lightly (the seemingly ubiquitous McDonald's only has 13,700).

 

Particularly when CEO Howard Schultz states his desire to have Starbucks become an "editor" of culture.'"

Whoah.  Think about that statement.  An editor shapes, changes and forms a document or some other form of media to serve a particular purpose.  As White reminds us, editing is never neutral.  It always has an agenda.  So what will be Starbucks' agenda?

As Christians, it is imperative that we stay on alert regarding pop culture and its power over people to shape the way they think and therefore live.  It is imperative that we remember that the world is trying to shape us - and never into the will of God. If we do not stay on alert, we get sucked along with it.  Are we seeking to be shaped first and foremost by Scripture so that our thinking and therefore our living will be counter to the world and glorifying to God?  I fear that too many of us believers spend more time at Starbucks and the like then in God's Word.