Perhaps I should add a touch more clarification to last week’s post – Death of a Christian magazine.
If “Christian-only” resources are OK, does that mean Christian resources don’t belong with the general mix? No, of course not. In the same sense that secular box stores can carry Christian materials they can stock material from people who are Muslim, Jewish, agnostic or atheist. After all, it is their business. I don’t determine their inventory.
In that same sense, a Christian artist doesn’t have to remain exclusively in the Christian realm. If artists like “Sixpence None the Richer” or “The Fray” wish to seek a greater audience with their music and testimony, PRAISE GOD if they are successful!
Isaac Slade (The Fray) shared that his “job” is to make the best music he possibly can. If it makes someone ask Why? then he can share his testimony.
All that said, the original issue of whether or not there should be “Christian-only” material still strikes me as rather strange. Why not?
God’s Word is for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2nd Timothy 3:16). Christian resource material is (or should be) also intended to help the believer grow towards maturity. Sometimes it is heavy, deep material; sometimes it is light and encouraging.
I used to shudder at Barbara Johnson’s (“The Geranium Lady”) material until someone told me how much it had helped them at a particular point in their life. LRM‘s founder and my mentor, Bob Fenn, told me simply “There is a right book at the right time for the right person.”
If you, whether a believer in Jesus Christ OR as a spiritual seeker, want to find something that will help you in your walk, you should be able to find such a resource. To break it down to the simplest level, if you want to learn to be a better plumber, read plumbing books. If you want to learn to be a better math student, read math books. If you want to learn to be a better Christian, read Christian books.
Don’t live on an island, but don’t refuse to visit one now and again!
Yours in Christ,
Marty
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