Pastor Blasts Starbucks for Promoting Gay Marriage, Urges Boycott
Christians need to make a "loud statement" and boycott Starbucks for their recent support of a gay marriage bill proposed in Washington state, one pastor said.
"Starbucks is promoting sin against God," Pastor Steven Andrew of USA Christian Ministries told The Christian Post. "I want God to bless the United States of America and God to bless Christians."
"God says homosexual marriage is an abomination and so God cannot bless that."
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The author of Making a Strong Christian Nation called on believers and the church to take a stand against the international coffee company by no longer consuming the popular beverages, serving them at the church, or referring to them in sermons, following other religious organizations like Liberty Counsel which opposed Starbucks' position.
"Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?" Andrew shared, referring to 2 Chronicles 19:2. "If Christians support those whom oppose God, the Bible teaches that God's wrath is on us so the key is if we love Jesus, we'll boycott Starbucks."
But how was Starbucks, a business supporting same-sex marriage, "hating God" when they never explicitly stated that?
Andrew clarified, "Romans 1 explains that when people don't want to retain God in their knowledge, God gives them over to homosexual sin. And then in verse 30, it says that these people are haters of God. And so that's the way it is."
"Jesus says in John 14: 21, 'Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.' If you love Jesus you'll obey his commandments," the ministry president said. "It's the same with our Lord Jesus. And so Starbucks is choosing to go against God and therefore Romans 1:30 says that they're a hater of God."
The pastor felt it was an "unwise business move" on Starbucks' part to back the gay marriage bill that was approved in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, while other traditional marriage supporters found it unsurprising or a "sad development" as stated by Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.
Andrew was also convinced that the company's latest decision would affect their coffee sales, since "80 percent of Americans were Christians while only 1 to 2 percent were homosexuals."
"What if Starbucks lost 80 percent of its customers?" he posed.
Believing that the boycott would make the point that there was a "Christian majority" that was standing up and leading the nation as Jesus directed, the preacher commented, "Thirty states have voted for marriage to be between a man and a woman."
"The people don't want this. It's corruption in government. It's government trying to bully our people."
Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
Washington state passed a domestic partnership law in 2007 and has since had an "everything but marriage" expansion of the law since 2009.
The Senate is expected to vote on the proposed gay marriage bill on Wednesday and proponents of the bill believe it will be passed in both houses and signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has already voiced her support.
Prominent Northwest companies like Microsoft, Nike and now Starbucks have all showed their support for the bill.
Starbucks Vice President Kalen Holmes noted that the measure was "aligned with Starbucks business practices" and was core to who they were and what they valued as a company, according to a statement obtained by The Seattle Times.
"Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God, but we are glad to know that Starbucks doesn't pretend to be for Christians," Andrew said.
He hopes that pastors and leaders across the nation will speak up and take a stand against gay marriage, making clear that marriage is only between a man and a woman according to the Scriptures.
Andrew also told CP, however, that it was the Christians he was worried about more than Starbucks itself.
"Starbucks can do whatever they want," he expressed. "They can follow Satan if they want. It's if a Christian wants to support them that I have issues with."
"I'm not against Starbucks and homosexuals. I would like them to repent and follow Jesus but as a pastor my concern is for the church so I'm calling for the 80 percent of Christians to boycott Starbucks because that way God will bless us."
Wondering if Andrew's boycott was perpetuating hate and not grace and love, the minister responded with two Christian commandments.
"The first commandment is to love God, which means I speak up that marriage is between man and a woman. And the second command is to love others. I love homosexuals but I want to see them repent. I wouldn't love them if I wanted to see them die and go to hell. That's not love, that's dysfunctionalism."
And it was Starbucks that was promoting hate, he revealed.
"Starbucks promotes hate against Americans because they are trying to change George Washington, John Adams and John Jay's laws. They're saying we oppose everything that made the USA the USA and we oppose God's Word so the truth is Starbucks is the one that is trying to change things against God's Word and against all of the history behind the United States."
For that reason, it was necessary for Christians to boycott Starbucks and "make a loud statement saying we do not accept companies opposing God."
"Christians need to decide if they're on the Lord's side in their heart," Andrew concluded. "The real issue is for Christians to love God like our founding father's did and to want God's laws to be our laws."
Pastor Steven Andrew recently created "God's State of the Union" following President Obama's own address. He is the author of Making A Strong Nation and the soon to be released How the Kingdom of God Operates.
