Much of the talk about an evangelical resurgence is based on impressions and guesses. However, one objectively measurable sign of growth is to be found in the religious book industry. Last month the Christian Booksellers Association held its annual convention in Denver with more than 700 suppliers exhibiting their wares. Seven years earlier they had also met in Denver. Then there were just about 1,000 member stores; now there are more than 2,400 in the United States and another 250 elsewhere. Store sales have been increasing by more than 15 per cent each year, well ahead of both inflation and what other small retailers have done. The industry as a whole, including mass market paperback and book club sales, is estimated to be doing about $600 million worth of business a year.
But is this good? Not entirely. Much of what is spent on books and the other items carried in Christian bookstores could be put to better uses. An area that I hesitate to criticize is the sale of Bibles, which provides about one-fourth of the income of CBA member stores.
Other books of various kinds account for about 40 to 45 per cent of store sales. Just as foods differ widely both in nutritional value and in taste appeal, so do books. There is, to put it bluntly, a lot of “junk food” on the bookrack. Junk books aren’t grossly heretical; they won’t poison you. But the money and time they consume could be used far more profitably. Let’s remember, however, that lamentations over the quality of literature have always been with us. There was no golden age of books when only pearls were purveyed. The fact is that there are more good books for Christians now than ever before. One of the principle purposes of this magazine is to publicize them in our briefs, reviews, and surveys. But there are also more bad, or nutritionless, books that are well packaged and skillfully advertised. Buyer beware!
About one-third of a retailer’s sales are neither Bibles nor books. Sunday school curricula account for part of the rest. Stores also sell music in amazing variety. The range of musical tastes in the body of Christ in our time is probably unprecedented. Music can be well or poorly done in any style. I urge our readers not to be too quick to condemn a style that they do not like in toto whether because it is too syrupy, too snappy, too sultry, or too solemn.
And then to save the worst for last, there is what is known as the “product” line, sometimes called “trinkets” and less flattering names. This is about all that Denver’s morning paper, the Rocky Mountain News, noticed as they toured the equivalent of three-and-one-half football fields of exhibits. One day almost the whole front page of the tabloid was occupied by pictures of three products: a T-shirt for a dog (yes) emblazoned with a cross, two Frisbees affirming God’s care, and sixteen bumper stickers (sample: “Christians have more fun, especially later!”). The paper’s article barely mentioned books and ignored Bibles totally.
Many Christians have long been accustomed to Scripture plaques hanging around. Today posters and bumper-stickers and T-shirts are a comparable means of making a statement. We don’t want to limit God’s ability to use rather bizarre ways to alert people to his word. However, I urge Christians who make, sell, and buy imprinted products to beware of trivializing the message of the God whom we worship. We must remember that standards of taste take precedence over the fleeting attention-grabber. The God who ordained the tabernacle of splendor is not honored by that which is tawdry, sleazy, and cheap.
The numerical growth in the sales of evangelical books and products is noteworthy, as is the increased professional competence of the industry. The diversity of needs being addressed and audiences being contacted is also a welcome sign. But ever more attention must be given to improving across the board the quality of what is offered for sale in the name of the living God.—D. T.
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
Newsweek featured Ruth Stapleton on its July 17 cover. Long before her brother, Jimmy Carter, became governor of Georgia, Stapleton had a wide-ranging ministry of evangelism and promoted a nonsensational kind of inner healing. Newsweek rightly reported that she “draws the core of her constituency from those middle-class evangelicals who have discovered that personal happiness does not automatically follow from being born again or baptized in the Holy Spirit.” But it then proceeded to attribute statements to her as direct quotations that, if she really means them, would be about as thoroughgoing a repudiation of her constituency as one could imagine. “But who knows, maybe God was in Buddha just like he was in Jesus,” and “I believe that Jesus was just a man,” are statements attributed by Newsweek to Stapleton. She firmly denies saying anything like them and instead affirms adherence to the historical doctrines of orthodox Christianity. Newsweek, however, says their quotes “accurately reflect” what she said in recorded interviews.
If Stapleton practices duplicity, sometimes professing orthodoxy (as in her interview with CHRISTIANITY TODAY, November 4, 1977, issue, page 10), sometimes espousing rank heresy, Newsweek should have said so. We think that all involved could be more sensitive to the nuances of theology. It is no quibble whether Jesus was a man through whom God worked or God himself become man.
As a general principle, readers should be alert to the journalist’s understandable desire to arouse interest. In a recent press conference Stapleton said that a reporter defended the use of “sensationalism” with reference to her.
Ruth Stapleton has felt the pressure of sharp criticism from many Christians who have chosen to believe secular reports. Commenting on the media coverage of her “controversial friendship” with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, she said, “If Jesus taught us to reach out to all people, regardless of their station in life, how can Christians be so critical when someone tries to follow his example?” Stapleton, by the way, firmly believes that Flynt has been born again, but just as clearly maintains that he is only a babe in Christ and that she has had little influence on the decisions he made between his conversion and the attempt on his life.
Neither Newsweek nor any other second-hand account should be the source for determining anybody’s beliefs. Don’t believe everything you read even if it’s in quotation marks. Examine the fruit … it’s the biblical way.
