Customer Reviews

The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion

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This book is like a grande cup of foam with a shot of espresso at the bottom. If you slurp your way through the froth, you'll find a taste or two of genuine wisdom along the way.

And, Sweet does get a few good "shots" in.

Page 33. "And in a worst-coffee country, where were you served the worst of the worst? The church."

Right on! Many churches could benefit from being places that just served a decent cup of coffee on Sunday morning. Still, many church leaders don't seem to understand this.

Or, better yet, let people eat donuts and drink coffee in church! Great idea! (page 145).

Page 57. Great shot at Thomas Kinkade paintings! Why are they not beautiful, only pretty? Sweet tells us why.

But oh the frothy foam of verbiage I had to pour through my skull to get those little tastes of cerebral stimulation!

At times I wondered if Sweet and I lived on the same planet. On page 104 Sweet writes, "Every Starbucks store is different, but the Starbucks image is the same wherever you go..." Really? Actually, I've lived in the Starbucks' homeland all my life and I've been to a lot of Starbucks restaurants, and I can tell you they're mostly all practically identical. Starbucks is the McDonalds of espresso.

Some of it was just plain embarrassing, like on page 24 where Sweet really wants to use the word for excrement that starts with "S", but he substitutes the dog breed Shih Tzu. So he uses the word without using the word. This guy is clever!

But most of the rest was the same stuff that many Christian authors have been writing about for years. Yes, Christianity is something that is supposed to be experienced, not "gone to" on Sunday mornings. Yes, Christianity needs community to thrive, not just "religious convictions confirmed from the pulpit" (page 132).

Does reading the same stuff that so many other Christian motivational types have written and said suddenly become a refreshing experience when its packaged in a Starbucks wrapper? Nope. This coffee's been sittin' on the back burner for quite a while.

Finally, the chapter I was waiting for just wasn't there. After Sweet spent 150 pages on what reads like a caffeine fueled ra ra rant about how Christianity should be more like Starbucks, I wanted to read a description of exactly what a "Starbucks church" would be like. How would this work? That's not there. However, there is about the best short history of coffee that I've ever read, and that's something I suppose.

So, if you are a new Christian, or you haven't read many books on "what's wrong with the church and how to fix it", you might find this book stimulating. Having been exposed to this kind of stuff for years, I found it to be more of the same with a new gimmick.

Or to put it another way, I paid the equivalent of three grande lattes, but what I got could be easily contained in a demitasse cup.

Len Sweet builds on the delight of a great cup of coffee by showing how the church might capture some of the flavor, heat and zest discovered in a Starbucks store. The metaphore is worth exploring. Why should the church always take secondary places to the vitality present in culture? Read the Gosple According to Starbucks and you will find fresh insights for communicating the gospel in dynamic and relevant ways. Once again Len Sweet stokes grande passion for Christ.

As with many who are in the emergent movement they know there are issues within the church and often are correct in their identification of them. (Though you wonder how so many of them could have the same, incredibly bad experiences - I have seen and participated in some real authentic, Christ following fellowships and would think there has to be a few more out there). Anyway, my issue is with their solutions. Instead of returning to the Bible for how to do church (Acts, Pastoral Epistles), they turn to modern thinking and strategies for solutions that will only lead the church into more error and problems. In fact, I find it interesting that though the book was written not that long ago that today Starbucks is in trouble as a company and looking to find their magic again. Not sure how to fix Starbucks, but scripture gives us clear understanding of how a church will prosper.

I found this book to be outstanding! In our book study we are promoting each partcipant to review one of the Being Real Engages the World thought provoking questions daily to help them in their spiritual journey. Our class has gone from 5 people to 14 people because the original five liked it so much. There are 2 more discussion groups, one for over 70years and the other for 15-18years of age, being formed for a 6 week series to experience a different way to grow into Christ.

Sweet puts growing spiritually into a format that appeals to many people whether they drink Starucks or not. We are finding many points from architecture, space, service, mission to prayer and images coming up from remarks Sweet has made. Our discussion group is participating fully and meeting to combine our thoughts (provoked by our discussions) to find ways we can reach out into our neighborhood to help make our church connecting to others.

Sweet certainly has put out information, comparisions and questions that have helped us realize we need to put as much energy into growing ourselves spiritually, as we spend "talking" about how to this and that.

Sweet really has put into a small book a way to experience God and connect with our neighbors. Our group is having an irreistible faith experience with Jesus as the center.

A while back I stood on a street corner in a major U.S. city and counted five Starbucks stores within my limited range of vision. I wondered what on earth they were thinking; weren't they concerned all these stores would cannibalize each other? Well, no, they weren't concerned at all, and their reasoning sheds light on the company's phenomenal success --- and what the church can learn from the Starbucks knack for engaging the culture and transforming it in the process. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO STARBUCKS offers a delightful romp through the world of a company that changed the way we take our cup o' joe. And along the way, the book offers a wealth of insights that will help the church engage the culture --- and maybe, just maybe, help transform it, changing the way people relate to God and express their faith.

But first, to the author. If Leonard Sweet's contribution to the literature of the church was limited to his academic, theological works on postmodernism, that would be enough to earn our gratitude. The fact that he also remembers the masses makes his writing a doubly valuable asset. This is one of his books for the masses, and for reasons I can't quite pinpoint, it's one of his best of that kind. Maybe it's the fascinating tidbits about Starbucks's history and corporate culture that pepper the book; maybe it's the oh-so-familiar behavior of caffeine-addicted consumers like me; maybe it's the dots he connects between extreme sports and karaoke and reality TV and a chain of coffee houses. Whatever it is, he brews up a whole lot of fun and pours out his best blend of information, insights, wisdom and casual writing style.

To help us "get" the Starbucks culture, Sweet uses the acronym EPIC: experiential, participatory, image-rich and connective. If you've ever entered a Starbucks store (forgetting for a moment the kiosks in airports and other locations), you know what Sweet means. At Starbucks, you're not buying a cup of coffee; you're immersing yourself in a cultural Experience. You're not settling for the ordinary; you're "living with a grande passion," as the subtitle reveals. Unlike fast-food franchises, Starbucks encourages you to Participate by allowing you to create your own customized beverage from something like 55,000 potential combinations; you can truly "have it your way" there. (Just imagine asking for a medium-well burger at Burger King.) Every Starbucks store is rich in Images, much more like a medieval cathedral than the gymnasiums that are home to so many of our worship services.

Perhaps most importantly --- at least for me --- Starbucks offers a Connection with others. I love this quote from the book: "In a culture without a front porch, in a culture where we built up the backs of our houses with decks and walls, not the fronts of our houses where we might connect with a passing neighbor; in a world where we invested in privacy over hospitality, Starbucks spoke these words: 'We'll be your front porch. Hang out here.'" The message to the church, found in all four EPIC words, is obvious: we need to provide a deeper spiritual experience, greater opportunity for participation, powerful images that tell the story of God, and a welcoming atmosphere that encourages genuine connection with others. I suspect the aroma of freshly brewed coffee couldn't hurt.

As in nearly all of his books, Sweet reminds us that faith as an authentic lifestyle is often missed when "right-thinking" --- and overthinking --- crowns reason as the master over our lives. Granting that level of power to "reason" has robbed us of a "grande gospel, frappuccino faith, venti life of romance and passion," he writes. "Starbucks took an old, unexciting standby --- hot, dark liquid in a cup --- and made it an EPIC beverage that millions of people feel they can't live without. That, in a very few words, captures the contextual intelligence that Christians can gain from studying the Starbucks way of doing business."

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

As Len Sweet's other books, The Gospel According to Starbucks (TGAS) is witty, insightful, thought-provoking, well-researched, a delight to read--and a bit questionable. Sweet describes well the Starbucks ethos and makes many apt suggestions concerning what the church can and should learn from Starbucks. Thus, TGAS is well worth reading, especially by pastors and ministers who work with young adults--and even with those who are not so young but still a part of the Starbucks set.

Yet, the Starbucks coffee shops that are described in the book are primarily those in large cities, not the Starbucks in the small city where I live or the one I went to in O'Hare Airport last night. Starbucks with a drive through window or with "only regular coffee" is not what Sweet was writing about. I have been to those like he described, but they are not all like that. And even the quintessential Starbucks are probably glorified a little too much.

And then I kept thinking about the question, WWJD? What would Jesus drink? While He would gladly enter into lively conversation with the people who frequent Starbucks, somehow I can't see Jesus choosing to drink Starbucks regularly, for like some of the rest of us He would probably think Starbucks is over-priced and over-rated.

In spite of these negative comments, though, I enjoyed and profited from reading TGAS--and I recommend it to others with the gentle warning that it may be too sweet (Sweet?) or syrupy in some places.

I enjoyed Leonard Sweet's connection with the caffinated growth of StarBucks and how the church could learn from what they're doing right. Very interesting info and excellent analogies for us preachers out there that like to make our sermons relevant to those we're reaching out to. In the words and example of Paul, "As some of your own poets have said..."

Most books have both good and bad points in them. But every so often, I run across a book that has practically no redeeming value. This was one of those books.

Bluntly, it was one of the worst books I've read in a while.

The essence of the book's message: Church should be E.P.I.C. (Experiential, Participatory, Image-Rich, Connecting). Starbucks does EPIC really well. The church could learn a lot from Starbucks.

The format takes each letter (E.P.I.C.) and covers a chapter on how Starbucks enacts that letter, followed by a chapter on how the church could follow sync.

It is ridiculous and offensive (not to mention just plain wrong) to imagine God saying, "Wow, Starbucks has a great thing going there. Let's try that." (By the way, the Epilogue is entitled "Jehovah Java.")

The content is way off base. But the style is also lacking. Sweet extends his metaphors far beyond bounds of sense and interest. Boxes within the pages (with themed titles like "Brewed for Thought" and "Grounds for Truth") attempt to stir thinking, but are usually rhetorical questions with minimal substance. The ideas aren't even fresh, as I've heard this basic message many times before.

Sweet is clearly a coffee aficionado and he knows something of marketing strategy. (As a coffee-addict with a marketing journalism degree myself, I recognize that.) This book would've been fine (not great, but OK) if it stuck to that subject. But when he drags in the GOSPEL according to Starbucks, it's a whole different story.

Don't waste your time on this book.

Leonard Sweet is the E. Stanley Jones professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey. In this book, he attempts to exegete culture by using the medieval methods of literal, allegorical, tropological, and analogical. To do that, he uses the example of Starbucks, the twentieth century success story and compares it to the failure of the contemporary church (which by implication is a failure).

Starbucks, by the marvels of modern branding, marketing and giving people the illusion of what they needs, makes people willing to pay top dollars for a simple cup of coffee. Why are people willing to pay so much? Sweet answers, "They pay so they can enjoy the Starbucks experience. The value comes with the experience that surrounds the cup of coffee. Starbucks lovers connect with the warmth of friends as they enjoy the warmth of their favourite drink." (p.4)

Starbucks attains this success by giving people the Starbuck experience. Sweet postulates that the church can be revived by giving her members a similar experience, which he terms E.P.I.C. spirituality. EPIC is the acronyms for

Experience
Participatory
Image-rich
Connecting

Starbucks offers EPIC is the experience drinking coffee in the ambience of a Starbuck outlet, participatory in the choosing of the variety of offerings, image-rich branding of Starbucks especially the coffee cup, and connection as friends meet over coffee and connect in a community.

The EPIC church will be experiencing God rather than the knowledge of Him, get "fully immersed in what God is doing," using images as "God speaks in more than just words," and reconstructing "life's four bad connection: our broken relationship with God, others, self, and creation."

The EPIC church is about experiences, and feelings. However I wonder if by using Starbucks as an example for comparison, Sweet is not bringing the church to the level of Starbucks. Starbucks is a phenomenon success because it caters to the culture of the age. Is Sweet suggesting that the church should also caters to the culture of this age? This is the culture which values experiences, existential existence, secular individualism, and materialism.

Sweet writes,
Rational faith-the form of Christianity that relies on argument, logic, and apologetics to defend its rightness-has failed miserably in meeting people where they live. Intellectual arguments over doctrine and theology are fine for divinity school, but they lose impact at the level of daily life experience. Starbucks knows that people lives for engagement, connection, symbols, and meaningful experiences. (p.5)

Because rational faith seems to have failed, there is no reason to throw out the baby with the bath water. What Starbucks offers is a superficial experience. It disappears as soon as we finish our cuppa and leaves the store. Church offers a real experience, one that transcends culture. Engagement, connection, symbols, and meaning experiences can only be lasting if it is grounded in the revelation of God. And that is rational faith. Without rational faith, it will become a free for all religiosity.

Sweet is right to point out the church has fossiled in some of her activities. However, we must be careful that to differentiate that the church is not Starbucks. Church is not a place where people who are severely addicted to caffeine go for their `pick me up.' Church is a place where people who are severely addicted to Jesus Christ go to become a community of faith.

Jehovah Java!

Sweet is constantly referenced by other contemporary writers I read, but somehow I had missed reading anything directly by him until this powerful paperback. This is a highly articulate, incisive and very clear writer. In this book you will feel you are really having a conversation with this alert theologian/sociologist.

Sweet describes how the current generation has tired of modernism's impersonal individualism, and longs for community, for fellowship and acceptance -- for connection -- analyzes why and how the desire for community, fellowship and acceptance -- for connection -- finds fulfillment in current culture and business.

Starbucks is the iconic provision of adequate opportunity for connection. Sweet probes the characteristics that inform the church what the current generation finds in Starbucks, as Gospel characteristics, that it cannot find in the current American church! He has grasped the interactive character of the biblical concept of revelation and reconciliation.

This commentator on current culture discusses how the real Good News found in the New Testament differs from the standard western church because the Gospel focuses on relationships and restoration of true commmunity and connectedness that the current generation seeks. While the church has become stultified on ideas, abstractions and programs, the business culture has been alert to the needs and desires of the American public and is filling a gap the church should have filled with the true Good News.

Here he calls us to account for the disconnectedness in our lives and the lives around us. Referencing current business motifs, he describes how the new connection-oriented malls, which open to the outside, and are designed for event and community inside, have responded to the current generation's need to come together. He explores how contemporary media and communication technology both isolates us and fosters our reconnection.

Sweet did not stint. He even includes a short sociological history (in an epilogue and throughout the text) of coffee as the social catalyst of recent history, in the west and worldewide. Sweet addresses the concept of conversation, community and connectedness, deep values for the current generation. In analyzing whey the Starbucks phenomenon has become so pervasive, he describes major problems with the traditional American, and especially evangelical, church.

The church so adopted modernity that it became more about propositions than about relationships, more about intellectual rightness than about covenant community, more about ideas than about God, more about propositional truth than about the relational truth Jesus talks about in the Gospels.

Sweet surrounds us with Gospel concepts from the biblical texts, both from the old Hebrews scriptures and from the later Christians writings. He refocuses the modern western church on the pre-modern values of the original Gospel and the teachings of Jesus, valuing the human creation, not only as individuals, but as community.

He reclaims the New Testament concept of redeeming nations and rebuilding communities through reconciliation with God and each other. He references the Creation motifs that open the Bible to illustrate the broken relationships that God is helaing in his current reconciliation work that was expressed in Jesus Christ.

Sweet emphasizes the unity of Life as seen in the Hebrew perspective. He underlines this by rightly pointing out that this is a characteristic of ALL premodern cultures that have not been artifically anesthetized by the abstract rationalism that has led the west to divide the world in to spheres, separating "nature" from the spiritual, self-identity of humanity and its place in the whole of creation.

Sweet truly writes Good News. Here he brings the stiff modern American church back to Gopspel center in the teachings of Jesus and their foundations in the Hebrew scriptures. Sweet has pronounced the hope of that always fresh Good News of God's Rule for us. It is the lack of community, the need for connectedness that the Gospel originally addresses.

This is what we see in the new generation and the cultural that has occurred in the cultures of Europe and the North America. The "Rule of God" will free us and remold life, the world and creation by correcting the brokenness we experience in our relationships, as powerfully portrayed in the opening passages of Genesis.

Wake Up Sleeper! Here is Good News, and Starbucks has provided the perspective to show why this Good News is so needed and so welcomed in our era! Reconnect! Hear the Good News!