Wake Up, Look Up

hello everyone thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach

wrock and in today's episode we're

asking the question should the bathroom

be free this is prompted by what's been

in the news lately about Starbucks which

is is changing its company policy it's

issuing a new code of conduct it has

been since

2018 that the bathroom in Starbucks was

for everyone whether you were a coffee

drinker or not whether you were a

customer or not you could pop into

Starbucks and use the bathroom this

particularly was relevant in urban areas

where public restrooms are hard to come

by and often made Starbucks kind of A

Gathering Place for people in need of

public restaurant it's something the

company has recognized has been bad for

business uh that's for a couple of

reasons one is because overwhelmingly

Starbucks's paying customers did not

want to be in the same space as those

who might have come there just for the

bathroom people who are homeless or

dealing with mental health issues or

substance abuse increasingly they were

encroaching on customers territory it's

also true that Starbucks realized that

their old model of creating a third

space A Gathering Place for the

community no longer fit American culture

increasingly Starbucks was realizing

that 70% of its business is online

either people doing online orders or in

store pickups no one actually goes into

Starbucks anymore let alone hangs out

there in fact uh you know this policy

has resonated with customers because the

minute Starbucks announced this their

stock went up 6% shareholders were

saying finally you're not trying to be

an Agora you're just trying to be a

business that sells us coffee that we

come and get it and then get out of

there people are saying overwhelmingly

Starbucks we don't want you to provide

us Community we don't think you're in

the business of hospitality just make

and sell us coffee this is interesting

to me because in some way Starbucks was

trying to do some things that the Bible

calls us to do to be hospit hitable the

New Testament definition according to

Romans 12 of hospitality is to turn

strangers into Brothers Starbucks was

seeking to create a Gathering Place also

the Bible says a lot about caring for

the poor and the marginalized so

Starbucks was reflecting that at least

they thought in their idea that the

bathroom was for everybody but here's

the thing uh corporations are weak F

similes of the local church at its core

Starbucks exists to make a profit to

deliver a service to to give customers

what they want that that identity was

never going to fully square with the

biblical ideas of hospitality or caring

for the poor customers want Starbucks to

give them coffee and get out of their

way the Bible's call for Hospitality the

Bible's call for caring for the poor and

the marginalized is a call for the

church and when I read this story I

thought this is probably good for

Starbucks it's going to make their

customer experience a lot better but

it's also indicative of the fact that

Starbucks shouldn't have had to do this

Christians should be the one saying Hey

how do we solve the issues of

homelessness how do we find public

spaces that are accessible and

attractive and safe churches should be

third spaces where people can gather

listen I know that introduces a whole

host of questions that I don't have the

answers to but again one of the things

I'm always pushing on this podcast is

that Christians ReDiscover the meaning

and purpose and adventure of the

Christian Life what companies like

Starbucks are trying to do is what many

of us should be giving our lives towards

finding the ways to do what Jesus was

talking about in Matthew when he talked

about when I was hungry you fed me when

I was naked you clothed me and so on and

so forth that is the work of the church

that is the work work of Christians it's

not the work of Corporations but let's

acknowledge we're creating a vacuum that

different entities are trying and

failing at filling and let's start

asking God God how can your church in

urban rural suburban environments become

gathering places become places where the

poor and the marginalized are cared for

and served and love let's let companies

be companies let's Let the church be the

church hey thanks so much for watching

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