Few things say Christmas like a Peppermint Spice Mocha.

I do my best every year to get at least one of every Starbucks holiday drink – even an Egg Nog Latte if they’re available.

It’s not just the drinks that taste good – it’s the red cups.

For years now Starbucks has rolled out special red cups during the Christmas season to hold their holiday drinks.

They don’t offer any flavor. They don’t change the content of the drink inside of them.

Yet when they come out each year the red cups evoke a special feeling in many of us. They’re a signal for the holiday season. We feel more drawn to drink out of them than the typical white cups.

You might have heard a little something about the red cups this year.

Apparently some people were upset that the cups removed holiday images that previously adorned them. They saw this as an attack by Starbucks on Christmas.

Here’s the thing – the words “Merry Christmas” are never uttered in the Bible. There are no snowflakes or Christmas trees or anything of the sort.

When we start picking fights with stores who force their employees to say “Happy Holidays” and boycotting coffee chains who choose a minimalist cup design, we become like the Pharisees Jesus warned in Matthew 23, worrying about the outside of the cup without washing the inside.

We worry about what the display we present to the world rather than the condition of our hearts.

We dress up and put on a festive face while our heart is breaking or our soul is in turmoil.

We decorate our home for one month out of the year to celebrate the faith we put on the back burner for the other 11 months.

We get up in arms over the War On Christmas and turn a blind eye to the battlefield for every other season.

We have a Red Cup Psychology when it comes to Christmas, thinking it’s all about the display we present to the world and forgetting to let Jesus work on the condition of our souls.

For if the drink is made poorly, or if the milk is sour, or if the order is wrong, than no red cup can make it better. It’s really all about what’s on the inside.

And if we’re not truly keeping the spirit of Christmas in our hearts than nothing we do on the outside will make up for it.

If your celebration of Christmas is dependent upon your favorite coffee chain’s cup decoration, perhaps your heart isn’t really in the right place to begin with.

So let this be the final word on the red cup controversy – it’s not what’s on the outside, but the spirit of what’s inside that truly matters.

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