A Lesson Learned at Starbucks

I don't smoke or drink alcohol. I'm not into the entertainment industry so movies, concerts, and ball games are not really attended by this Ball. My guilty pleasures are coffee and books (clean books of course). Coffee is the one legal drug that I find myself addicted too. Last year, I gave it up for a while just to see what it would feel like. Within a month I learned that life stinks without coffee.

I love Starbucks coffee. I love the aroma of the store and when you open up a new bag. I love the flavor. I dislike the price of Starbucks, but once you've had the best coffee it's difficult to go back. Nothing is better than a fresh cup of french pressed coffee in the morning.

The small town I live in hasn't experienced God's favor enough to have a Starbucks yet, so every time we go to a city with one my wife and I indulge. I am so infatuated with Starbucks that this past spring I mixed my two guilty pleasures and read Howard Shultz's Onward (Howard Shultz is the CEO of Starbucks and is the genius who made it into what it is today). Talk about misery. Try reading a book about Starbucks with no store in your zip code.

This past week I went in to buy some coffee beans and some drinks for the ride home. Every time I go to a Starbucks I like talk with the barista about Onward. It's common knowledge that every one in the company received a free copy, so I always try to make small talk about it (better than talking about the weather). The baristas typically say that they have "thumbed through it" (meaning they looked at the pictures in the middle of the book).

However, on Friday I received a different response.

When I asked the barista about the book he replied with this..."I haven't read it all, but I found it to be a bunch of egotism and word vomit. I can't stand it when someone goes on and on about their own accomplishments." Wow! Egotism and word vomit? I really enjoyed in the book (like, I mean, I took notes). He then asked, "Have you read it?" In my head I like to envision that I leaned over the counter and ripped his apron off and told him he didn't deserve to wear the green, but I didn't. Instead, I backtracked. I said yes that I had and that I enjoyed it for it's "leadership qualities." I know that's weaker than McDonald's coffee. His cynicism had me parallezed. How could I say that I love the book now? To do so would be to say that I enjoyed word vomit. No one enjoys word vomit. His cynicism was contagious and shut me up.

In the middle of brain freeze, I heard a quiet "Sir...sir have you read the book?" Another barista was chiming in. I said yes and he asked me what I thought. Then he starts to brag on Howard Shultz and the company. He really enjoyed the book. He really appreciates how Howard Shultz treats him as an employee, even reminding me that Starbucks was created with the vision of being a place that Howard Shultz's dad would want to work for. He spoke so favorably of the book that the cynical barista didn't even know what say. He even gave up and agreed with him on some points. He shut up the critics with some praise.

This small event has forever changed me. Even though we weren't talking about spiritual issues, I felt the Holy Spirit consume that moment and teach me something life changing. In less than two minutes I learned something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. If you want to shut up the critics, give some praise. I remember hearing a pastor say once at a church camp, "It takes zero talent to be a critic." I would often joke with students in my youth group, who heard him say this, when they complained.

Christian, you have both critics and cynics all around you. A critic will have an unfavorable opinion about something and cynic believes other's motives are all based on self-interests. Do you know how to shut them up? (And trust me everyone in the room wants them to shut up.) Speak truth and encouragement to others.

The problem is the majority of us will be swayed. I was swayed twice in two minutes by two people wearing the same green apron. One swayed me with negativity and the other with positivity.

If you want to shut up the critics, if you want to silence the cynics, then speak truth and encouragement. Don't be swayed. If you hear someone bashing your pastor, stand up for them. If at your job you hear someone complaining, speak encouragement and truth. Christian, we need your voice. The problem is that the majority of people hear the critics and run with it. If my friendly barista wouldn't have spoken up I would have left irritated, instead I left in amazement. The church doesn't need any more critics or cynics from within. If you are only speaking negativity, then you need to quit complaining about your church and do something. Quit complaining about the church in your town that is "stealing everyone". Quit complaining about how it's not like it used to be. Do something about it.  Start speaking truth and encouragement....and believe it.

Question:
Have you ever been shut up by criticism?