At what point does it become tacky?

Driving through my town this week I noticed something a little disturbing. A gas station that’s been closed for quite some time was being reopened as a coffee shop. That wasn’t the disturbing part. In fact, that’s quite good. I’m a sucker for a good cup of coffee. It turns out that the coffee shop is a Christian themed coffee shop. I’ll admit, I don’t know what makes a coffee shop sufficiently “Christian.” Are some coffees more appropriate for Christians than others? Does that even matter? Can you just play some Amy Grant or Third Day CDs? Is that enough to qualify? We may never know.

However, none of those concerns explain my unease with this new Christian watering hole. It’s the name. Brace yourself. It’s pretty bad. Here it is: Jehovah’s Java, The Great I AM Coffee Shop and Café. Take a look at the attached picture. As Dave Barry is famous for saying, “I am not making this up!”

Let’s remember, Jehovah is one of the names of God in the Old Testament. He also tells us that his name is sacred. There are orthodox Jews that don’t write or speak the name of God. They consider it to be that Holy.

Does this bother you? What if someone opened a car dealership called: Jesus Christ Ford Lincoln Mercury? Would we (Christians) be okay with that? Does Jesus endorse Fords? Is He cool with using his name to sell cars? Can I play enough Christian pop music in the showroom to make Him cool with it? How many “Precious Moments” ceramic figurines do I need to strategically place near the brochure rack to meet the reverence quota? 4? 20? Is my hypothetical car dealership situation really any different from Jehovah’s Java? I don’t think so.

I don’t know the owners of Jehovah’s Java. I hope they are operating from a pure motive. However, it seems symptomatic of modern evangelism. In our attempts to appear relevant and cool we’ve surrendered something that wasn’t ours to surrender. God’s Holy name is being used to sell coffee.

I’m a Protestant. As such, we (Protestants) don’t focus as much of our attention on Mary as our Roman Catholic friends. However, would it be okay for me to open up a business across from a Roman Catholic Church? Sure. Can I open it in hopes of bringing in some neighborhood Catholics? I don’t see why not. But, what if my business is called: Virgin Mary’s Holy Mother of God Check Cashing and Pawn Shop? I’m cringing as I type this. That would be bad right? Right? Offensive? Of course! We’d never think of it. I’m sure my Catholic friends would be put off by such a name. That’s assuming that I’d have any Catholic friends after naming my pawn-shop after the woman who gave birth to the Christ-child. Tacky doesn’t begin to describe it.

Then why aren’t we outraged when we see Jehovah’s Java? Why do people think it’s cute? Sometimes we (Protestants) criticize Roman Catholics for their elevation of Mary. However, it seems that the real sin is that we modern evangelicals have lowered God. Our Catholic friends hold the name of Mary in higher esteem than we hold the name of God.