The Gospel According to Starbucks

I’m totally taking the title from a really good Len Sweet book. I hope that is ok, Sweet.

I was at Starbucks yesterday, getting properly caffeinated before Easter services, and a cool thing happened. A person went through the Drive Thru and gave the Barista a loaded gift card to use for the next several customer’s orders. The rationale: it’s Easter. That customer drove off, but I was able to see the result of the generosity.

It was really cool. The Barista was able to tell the next 10-12 unsuspecting customers about how their drink order was going to be free because of the generosity of another. The Barista, at times, struggled to get the message across to these curious customers.

“Because of the generosity of another customer, because it is Easter, your drink is going to be free today,” the Barista said.

“You are kidding me… are you sure?” A customer would reply.

“Absolutely. This may not happen other days, but someone wanted to do this for others today.” The Barista would conclude.

I envied the Barista. She was able to share the generosity of Another Person, surprising the unsuspecting benefactor of the gracious gift. She was given the task of stewarding the gracious gift of another and making sure that the generosity was distributed as far as it could be.

Gospelling is a verb. It is more enjoyable and more natural than we can ever imagine. After all, we’ve been invited into a hope that’s scope reaches to all, that is remaking the whole world.