According to a recent estimate of UNESCO, about 25 million people are learning to read every year. Schools, missions, governments and political groups the world over are encouraging people to master the technique of reading, and new literates are eager to read just about anything they can get hold of. But unfortunately, those in the more primitive countries tend to be too quick in accepting without question whatever appears in print.
Non-Christian agencies, both religious and political, have been quick to seize this opportunity for spreading their teaching. The Communists, anti-Christian ideologies, many cults and isms have exploited the literature approach to great advantage in recent years. Millions of their books and tracts have been printed, sold below cost, or given away. This widespread use of the printed page by enemies of the truth, nevertheless, shows the clear evidence of its tremendous value. To be certain of the true worth of anything, of course, one must ascertain the value that God places on it. This is particularly true of the production and distribution of Christian literature.
We read in the Old Testament that when long ago God looked upon this world and found it steeped in idolatry, he called Abraham of Ur of the Chaldees and informed him, first, that he intended to bring into being the Hebrew nation as a channel through which the Messiah, the Saviour, the living Word of God would come; and second, he desired to place in the world a depository for this truth—his written Word. In speaking of this, the Spirit of God says in Romans 3:2: “… unto them were committed the oracles of God.” This is true not only of the Old Testament but most of the New Testament as well.
When we realize that God placed such a high value on his written Word that he produced a special nation to receive and record it, we get just a little conception of the tremendous value he places on that Word. Perhaps it should not surprise us that the written message should be so vital. The spoken message has a way of changing, but the written story, reprinted or even carefully translated, will remain the same for centuries.
Since God raised up a nation to receive his Word, is it any wonder that he should raise up a means in our day for the dissemination of that Word? We have always been convinced that God raises up men and agencies to fulfil his purposes, and we are equally convinced that the Christian bookstore today is an agency with men and women called of God to do a special piece of work for his Kingdom. Men and women serving God today in the Christian bookstore field are just as completely persuaded of being called of God for their work as are missionaries in foreign lands. So great is their conviction of this that they would no more offer for sale a volume that is not true to Scripture than they would enter a pulpit and proclaim a false message.
Christians of any community should praise God if they have a good Christian bookstore in their area. Furthermore, they should pray for those responsible for such a store, should seek to support it, and should encourage others to do so as well. Had it not been for the written ministry, many of us would not be saved today. Moreover, our witness would be much less effectual were we without literature to pass on to others and to glean from for our own soul’s welfare.
Those who are in the Christian bookstore field know they must operate their stores on a business-like basis, learn all they can about modern merchandising methods, and take every opportunity to introduce and sell more Christian literature to the men and women of their community. Because books can often go where no missionary is able to go, and may be the sole means by which some will ever learn of the Saviour, enterprises which produce and sell them should be regarded as institutions raised up of God for a vital ministry. This ministry needs prayer that those who are now engaged in it may be blessed and may be a blessing, and that more will be established in coming years for needy communities.
This ministry of the Christian bookseller is not only the greatest deterrent to Communism and juvenile delinquency today, but is above all the message of salvation to men and women for whom Christ died.
R. Gordon Mitchell is President of the Christian Booksellers Association of the United States and Canada. He owns and operates a wholesale and retail book business under the name of Home Evangel Book Shop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
