Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, can the church learn from Starbucks? This is prompted by an article I read on CNN Business recently about how Starbucks is rapidly and pretty aggressively changing their strategy. In 2025, Starbucks closed around 400 stores nationally, including 12% of their overall stores in New York City, which, if you've been to New York City, you know there used to be a Starbucks seemingly on every block. They've undergone a $1 billion restructuring of under a new CEO. And basically what they're saying is that their model no longer works. The world has changed. urban saturation, remote work, rising competition. I mean, if you're a coffee drinker like me, a coffee snob like me, you know, there are a lot of third wave pop up coffee places that are just better than Starbucks. There, there's more competition in the coffee market than there was when Starbucks started. And as a result, they were running a playbook from 10 years ago that just doesn't work anymore. They're shifting now to a more suburban model. They're trying to revamp stores to be a, third space. They're saying that they didn't realize that problems like homelessness, safety issues, public bathroom misuse, we're gonna crater them the way they have. In short, this is what Starbucks is saying. The world has changed and we weren't keeping up. And man, if I don't see an indictment in that for the American church. Now let me be clear on something. Starbucks is a business. So down the road, if they realize they can make more money selling ice cream than coffee, they'll pivot. The only rule for them is to make money for their shareholders. The church is not like that. We've been given the gospel of Jesus Christ from God himself. There are pretty clear things in the Bible that we're supposed to be about that we can't deviate from. We can't change what we teach. We can't change what we say is true. There are certain rhythms the church must employ. But the Bible also leaves a ton of freedom for the way we go about those things. And if you don't believe me, read the New Testament. What you'll find is that the church in Galatia or Corinth or Ephesus or Colossae or Philippi is radically different one from the next because the cities they're in are different. The problems, the culture they're dealing with are different. Look, Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 9, 22. He says, I have become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some. In other words, he says, I figure out how to, without compromising doctrine or truth, get truth to people in a way they will receive it. What Starbucks is saying is that we had a model that worked and we rode that model too long and we're now realizing we've lost some people because of it. And I can't help but feel like in America at least, the church is running a playbook, the capital C American church is running a playbook that it's been running for 100 years and it isn't working anymore. And again, I'm not talking about what we teach, I'm talking about how we teach it. I'm talking about how we think about services, how we think about programming, how we think about discipleship. The world has changed. People are busier than ever. They're more technologically savvy than ever. They're more accessible to other ideas around the world than ever. The church has to make sure that we are answering today and even tomorrow's challenges and problems. Look, as a pastor, I believe that we have to be thinking about how to continue to reach each generation in a way that they will reach receive it. Of course, the problem with that is that for Starbucks to pivot, they run the risk of alienating current customers in chasing future customers. There are people who like Starbucks the way it is. In fact, you might love Starbucks. And when I talk about it changing, get angry and say, I don't want em to change. I like the way it is. But here's what Starbucks would tell you. If we don't change, there won't be a Starbucks in 10 years. You won't have what it is you're afraid you're losing because. Because nobody will come. The same principle applies in the church. The thing is, once we become part of the church, we fall in love with what it is. We don't want it to change, we don't want it to grow, we don't want it to evolve. But the problem with that is, is we'll stop reaching people. And eventually, and if you don't believe me, visit a random local church this weekend. Here's what you'll find. On average, it is declining and dying because the people there like it the way it is and they don't want to change. And they don't really care if anyone new is coming. But that is not the heart of God, the God who's gathering the nations to himself, the God who will leave the 99 sheep in pursuit of the 1. It is not the heart of the Apostle Paul who said, within the bounds of orthodoxy, I will do whatever I need to do to reach people. Oh, I hope the church is paying attention to stories like Starbucks and I hope it's committed to figuring out how to be the church today needs to reach the people who God cares about today. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. 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