[I was watching a Brylan Riggs YouTube video this morning. He was explaining how a conservative Christian female StarBucks’ employee was fired for not wanting to wear a Homosexual Pride shirt. This is a moral dilemma for me. I really like StarBucks’ instant coffee blends. I’m struggling with this. As a Christian should I keep purchasing StarBucks’ products, if not do you think they will notice? Good Lord, why am I left with these decisions? What would you all do? I’m leaning towards ditching StarBucks now, but I buy products made in China all the time.]
The C1 church had similar conflicts of interest. One was over whether to buy cheap meat, only used once in temple worship of so-called gods (1 Cor.8)—which were merely statues, idols, images. In eating such leftover food sold off to butchers, were Christians not avowing loyalty to the idol?
“Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one who is God. For even if there are ‘gods’ in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called ‘gods’ and ‘lords’), yet for us there is only one who is God, the father, from whom everything came into being and unto whom we live. And there is only one lord, Jesus the christ, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.” Those temples were worse than StarBucks!
Many supermarkets and supply stores fly the homosexualism flag as if they live on moral high ground instead of in the moral abyss. It’s an inverse morality, or simply because like occupied France they fear Nazi blowback for noncompliance with flags, vice-signalling.
I think Paul’s advice was not to be too uptight. In short, buy idol-meat if there’s no affordable and viable alternative, but don’t go down the idol’s rabbit hole. I bypass certain providers because of their flag flying, but only because I can easily access what I hope are their more moral, at least less immoral, rivals. Their stats don’t show what they are missing! A public boycott might cause them to rethink, as might conversion to Christ by their bosses. Temples can close down because the worshippers drop off and/or because the priests convert. Nowadays leaving bad reviews might also put pressure on today’s ‘temples’ of Marx.
Paul added that the liberty of some Christians can undermine other Christians—strengths and weaknesses. If a restaurant (1 Cor.8:10) publicly stands for blasphemy, a robust Christian might unaffectedly enjoy a good meal, but an uncertain Christian passing by, might follow their example and end up self-condemned. A certain hiddenness is advised. This principle might allow StarBucks with the proviso of not generally promoting it—a few bucks from you won’t take them far.
