The last two months I have spent a lot of time sitting in Starbucks. Not because I love coffee (I think they serve that here …), but because of the free wi-fi. It’s become my “office” to sit and write. I do buy something each time I’m here, but usually it’s something really simple, because I don’t understand the Starbucks language. It intimidates me, frankly.
They use lots of words I normally dont’ say or hear – dolce, venti, latte, grande, mocha, foam, whipped, chai, tazo …
I was so confused one day I think I ordered a carpe diem with gravy. It wasn’t half bad, whatever it was.
I wish I “got it”, but I don’t. I often feel nervous as I’m about to order … like, “I hope I get this right?!” “Did I pronounce ‘macchiato’ correctly? I hope I didn’t accidentally say something offense.”
Not understanding the language isn’t easy.
Once when I was a kid, me and my best friend Derek (yep, it was Eric & Derek) were in the back of our family station wagon. We saw semi-trucks driving by and we did what a lot of kids do – we made that motion with your arm for the truck driver to blow his horn. You may have done it before – hold your arm up in an “L” shape and act like you are pulling on a chain a couple of times. Most kids know this.
My mom looked back and was horrified …
“Eric – don’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, but I think it means something bad in Italian!”
Ahhhhh … good memories. Not the first time or last time my mom didn’t understand something I said or did.
On a deeper level, it reminded me of a conversation I had with my pastor the other day. We talked about a person’s experience when they walk into church for the first time. Not making the assumption that they know anything about God. Not making the assumption that their life is great. Not making the assumption that they understand the language that us Christians can often use.
We can be our own Starbucks sometimes – blessed, anointed, salvation, Gospel, fruit, repent, etc. We call each other “brother” or “sister”. We divide things into “Christian” and “secular”. We can be “justified” and “sanctified”. We can be confusing and intimidating.
There’s nothing inherently wrong about those words at all. At the same time, we have to be careful that in the same way a person can be intimidated at Starbucks, they can be intimidated walking into your church or having a conversation with you. And that would be shame if they felt like they didn’t fit in or were afraid to come back. The stakes are much higher than a fancy cup of coffee.
Speaking of which … I’m going to run. Going to order me a java chip tai, sanctified with a shot of repentance.
… and no, mom. I just didn’t swear in Portuguese …
The Eric Allen 
Interesting observation. I work for Starbucks and I get customers who have never visited a Starbucks before and stare at the menu while looking confused. I love connecting with those people and educating them about the different drinks we have and the jargon we use. It’s a nice feeling when you can use your knowledge and find out what the customer likes to introduce them to his or her new favorite drink. It’s also very rewarding when you create another regular who falls in love the the coffee we serve. The same is true with any group of people. Christians are called to be set apart from the world and hopefully that will show in the way we live and speak. As groups form a type of jargon is usually established, which explains the jargon Christians use. When people who are not familiar with this jargon look confused and ask about what it means we have the opportunity to connect with those individuals and share our faith with them. As we explain the jargon and what it means we can share the gospel with those outsiders. Hopefully, as the individual learns about the gospel he or she will establish a relationship with his or her savior. As a result we can welcome a new brother or sister into our family just like a regular customer at Starbucks.