God and Coffee

God and Starbucks

I just read this clever book about great coffee, evangelism and church. The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion by Leonard Sweet uses experiential force poured into every Tall, Grande, or Venti paper cup served by the corporate giant as a foil for how the church should be church. Sweet argues that the church has abandoned the passionate experience of the gospel in favor of a reasoned argument, while Starbucks embraces the experiential approach to selling something as simple as coffee. This has left the church with too many of us lining up for God out of duty or guilt, completely missing the warmth and richness of the experience of living with God. This book calls for an EPIC approach that is Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, and Connecting for a church that can tend to be too Rational, Spectatorial, Iconoclastic, and Disconnected.

It is easier for the extreme coffee lover to get into this book, yet anyone who longs for the warm embrace a relationship with Jesus Christ offers will resonate with the images sketch out in this book. Whether you prefer tea or coffee this book challenges all of us to ask the question, “Why is Starbucks growing while the church is shrinking?”

The book includes a Discussion Guide that can be used for small groups to explore together. So watch for a WERK small group book study to spring up at Java Jones soon.

Purchase: The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion