y o u r w r i t e r s g r o u p...

Editor to Author: Letter to a Memoir Writer

Dearest Author,

I've been thinking about worth lately.

What's your story worth?

At a recent writers conference I taught a workshop on how I saw publishing changing. Modern publishing, the only time in history when we've had separate "markets" for books, has begun to fracture and redistribute. I've shared several times about how The Shack has shifted things. It isn't just a book, of course, it's a bridge. And those bridges are inevitable because it isn't only spiritual people or Christians who recognize God as creator.  

Blue Like Jazz came well before it and created connections between the Christian and secular markets. Lauren Winner's memoir Girl Meets God made some connection points before that, similar to how Eat, Pray, Love did more recently, from the other side of the spiritual divide. Several spiritual/worldly, secular/sacred books have become best-sellers as bridges in the long history of such books since the beginning of print, and some people have traced this line back to the best-selling book of all time: The Bible.

The Secret. The Purpose-Driven Life. The Alchemist. The Celestine Prophesy. The Late Great Planet Earth. Pilgrim's Progress. Books you've never heard of have sold over 30 million copies: Steps to Christ by Ellen White, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, late-19th century Congregational minister and advocate of the ever-intriguing idea of "Christian socialism." Even Nikolai Tesla wrote about his life a true spiritual man and world-renouned scientist in My Inventions. The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey, and The Divine Comedy by Dante, written in 1304, has "sold" more than anyone knows and we have no idea how it or any of these books have changed readers and the history of spiritual thought, becoming seeds for the trees of countless theologies.

But of course, we know this is what books are--seeds. And this is what they do: define life and defy death.

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

So this story that's a part of you, that is you, that defines your work and all of your effort and sacrifices to share it completely (or as completely as possible) for others to use--what's it really worth?

Don't answer. You can't. Simply try to see the fullness of the question clearly. Continue on...

Do you know where your worth is really found?

Yes, in God's ownership of the life and love he's created you to embody (1 John 4:7-12). His ownership, creating, protecting, guiding and infusing of his great, unchanging spirit into us. He dies that we might live (parents always understand this principle). And we die that others might live through our sacrifices. This is the daily work of writing.

Do you know what that is really worth?

Intimately known and held, seen and heard and helped in every way, this knowledge is invaluable, isn't it? We can talk of worth and value, and shift our understanding of that from copies sold to readers influenced, but it's the knowledge a reader will have by the end of your story that makes what you're doing truly valuable. And this understanding of how God fills us and dies for us is the greatest wisdom, the most valuable in the world. And if you are practicing that, that makes what you're doing invaluable.

I want to give you, as a witness of your discovery of that unchanging love, my invaluable opinion on it, my affirmation that you've been seen and heard and that what you've written down is completely worthy. And with your assurance that it's been well established and others will see it and respond, you can continue, knowing it's incredible and invaluable. 

So do you see what your story is really worth?

Because there's no true price tag you can put on it. There's no proper estimating the value of my work, my seeing it, or others' receiving it either. It's in-valuable. We have to simply trust together that whatever comes of it is just a small piece of its fullest value as a seed for God to use, and not at all connected to the worth of what you've written, or what I've done to help. I know you've sacrificed and given for your story, and I've been brought into the processing of it, but regardless of how it will be published and the realities of our modern marketplace, you must know:

What's your story really worth?

I remain your solid co-laborer in the process of delivering these invaluable words. Never assign its worth to money, public perception, publication, or anything else. Your heart is here, and that's established and it's something you have written definitively, and just as we have agreed together at the outset here, others will when they read it.

We don't know how it will all play out. But I'm on your side and not looking for specific outcomes big or small. Don't think in terms of what's "fair," but decide you will pay with your life what's necessary to give to this project. What you give is directly proportional to what that seed will be able to produce in readers. And in terms of return and profit, I believe Cohelo is right: the universe will conspire in our favor.

So what's your story really worth?

 

Your Loving Editor,

Mick

Crossing Over: Writing to the "Spiritually Interested"

"Spiritually interested" is the rather obtuse designation Cathy Grossman borrowed for her article in USA Today speaking about the audience of The Shack. The term comes from Wayne Jacobsen, one of the publishers of the book, attempting to define the larger market for Christian books that Christian publishing is not serving. Since one of my stated goals for this website is to bridge that gap, I think it might be instructive to discuss whether Christian publishing should appeal to more than Christians. After all, like faith without works, or a church that doesn't evangelize, the situation seems unnecessarily restrictive at best, at worst unbiblical.

 

So our question from last time was, How does one capture the tone, approach, and appeal in this blossoming category of books for the spiritually interested? Some primary distinctives are that these books:

 

• Do not identify with the Christian subculture or the Christian product and media industries.
• Focus on experiential faith over propositional truth: Not arguments or lessons, but immersion in a direct, story-driven experience.
• Show supernatural experience not “evidence” (natural or biblical): The transcendence of God intervening in everyday life through “dispatches from the other side.”
• Are mysterious over convincing, allowing an experience that’s open-ended, unexplained, and even inconclusive.
• Are timely and timeless, revealing the here-and-now God unbound to traditionalism, and intimately involved in our uncertainty about the present and near-future.
• Reveal love triumphing over law, in relationship-affirming and life-honoring freedom from formal religious dogma, judgment, or mediation.

Before hurrying on, we should talk more about that first bullet. Those looking for books outside the strict confines of popular Christianity generally don’t seem to spend much time looking in places the gatekeepers control, namely Christian bookstores. And though there are several exceptions, the obvious limiting factor in getting these books read is that they are not “Christian” enough for Evangelical Christian readers, and up until recently, were too spiritual for most NY houses.

 

But now you see, that’s changing. These books for the spiritually interested are not coersive, they don't pound principles, which is a major reason they fit better in the general market than the Christian subculture. They aren’t closed to including what doesn’t currently fit modern Christianity. These books are redemptive, but their redemption comes in the jouney, not the destination. The “take-away” is of becoming engaged in an exploration, not to fix something, convert skeptics, or even evoke a quatifiable change, but to enjoy a satisfying read. The Shack, while not high literature, provides an example of book-as-interpretive-experience that causes readers to explore. That exploration attracts many “recovering Christians,” but the transcendent experience is broader and more profound than simple affirmation. The Shack challenges stereotypes about God to present him as a generous, fun-loving, approachable mother/father, with a single agenda of bringing unconditional, sacrificial love into the world. In religion and in larger society, that's an easy reality to miss. And what I find so exciting about this example is that despite its initial rejection by CBA and ABA publishers, it's revealed a huge desire for discussion about this God who doesn't necessarily begin and end in our established categories.

 

So why did Christian or NY editors believe their houses shouldn't publish it? Several possibilities, but "too risky" and "not up to snuff" seem likely to this editor.

 

The Shack proves there's an audience of spiritually interested folks who are not being served either by the so-called Christian ghetto or the ivory towers.

 

Some take issue with the idea of designating books as Christian at all. One result of The Shack's success is that readers now recognize there's something more to God and maybe even this word "Christian" than they realized. Maybe David Sessions wasn't just being bombastic when he said that the divide between Christian and mainstream designations has been the single most damaging idea to Christianity in the modern world.

 

Of course, here are the sticky swamplands. If it's not Christian, how do we know it’s wholesome? Can we really let people be their own judges of that? Many rely on labels in today’s hyper-marketed culture, myself included. Where do we redraw the lines of this demographic? And I don't want to waste time arguing about the morality of blurring this line--hoping for a greater reach isn't a failure of faith. I don't question those who still feel called to be Christian writers, and never anything less. But the challenge remains. There's a big underserved audience out there. How are we going to reach them?

 

The good news is, reaching this spiritually interested audience isn't only possible, it's profitable. So next time we'll take a closer look at some comparative books and content characteristics that should reveal a bit more about how we define this emerging category.

Christian Products' Industry Future is "Bleak"

Demonstrating once again the failure to distinguish between Christian products and Christian books, Christian Retailing reports that former marketing exec for Nelson and Zondervan, Greg Stielstra, foresees a bleak future for the Christian "products industry" (CR):

"Brick-and-mortar operations haven't lost all their business, but they've lost the business that will allow them to stay in business, whether they know it or not," says Stielstra.

Interviewed for World Magazine’s annual books issue (ironically releasing Independence Day, and just one week before the International Christian Retail Show), Stielstra says: "There's a lot of lip service to online retailing and to e-books, but there's still too much allegiance to old ways of doing business. Surges in Christian fiction, or in sub-niches, are just disguising the fundamental problems."

Stielstra adds that the music industry showed the way ahead for the book business. "It's no accident that it took a computer company--Apple--to figure out the new music model. They had nothing invested in the old model, nothing to protect."

(Incidentally, in the same upcoming issue, a World report highlights self-publishing as "the bright spot in a gloomy book-selling environment.")

Many thoughts ricocheting around my head over this, but one question stands out: Could it be that some Christians don't consider books just another product among the "miscellaneous retail" taking over Christian stores? Okay, another: Could it be that the Christian retail channel has focused too narrowly on certain segments of their potential market?Or maybe it's just that Wal-Mart or Amazon is cheaper.

The International Christian Retail Show changed its name from the Christian Bookseller's Convention recently after many years of books losing floor space to other products. Now books are also losing to a retail industry that sees no connection between their recent downturn and the surge in popularity of the "spiritual-but-not-religious" description of faith.

We can ignore or decry the situation all we want. But I wonder, 

Is there a connection between current rejection of establishment restrictions (about which the established powers--religious, corporate, and governing--are typically very concerned), and these entities' declining health?

Because whether YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are creating or following this social revolution, it doesn't seem many in the established powers (save Obama, maybe) are really paying much attention. 

Well, I haven't read the article yet. Maybe that's part of what Stielstra is saying about Christian retail. His coauthored book, Faith-Based Marketing probably deserves a fair read.

Free the Christian Book!

In a guest editorial for Christian Retailing, Mark Kuyper, President & CEO of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, shares how according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 76% of Americans identify as Christian (50.9% claim to be Protestant). Another study shows 75% of the population reads books. Two-thirds say they read the Bible and "other religious works." Yet, according to Pubtrack Consumer, Christian books are only 4.7% of the market. Kuyper says, "the potential for ... growth is staggering...."

His conclusion?

"Going through difficult times encourages us to innovate. Publishers and retailers all over our industry are rethinking how to do their work. Now is the time to actively and creatively develop new ideas and strategies to reach beyond our current customer base..."

Amen. A standing ovation for the thought. So what might these "new ideas and strategies" be? 

This week, I'd like to honor Mark's wonderful suggestion and ask for your ideas and strategies. The ECPA, the Christian Booksellers Association, even Christian Retailing, which according to their slogan, "serves the $4.6 billion Christian products industry" is eager to hear what we think we should do to grow the market for Christian books. So far, these new ideas are pretty scarce (one new suggestion comes from the CBA chairman: downsizing stores). And to be clear, Kuyper's article isn't necessarily agreeing with the original assumption that the Christian book is only intended for Christians. Yet though he does believe that The Purpose-Driven Life sold to more than just Christians, there's no denying that this simplistic Bible study broke out of CBA--the association of Christian book stores--to reach those who didn't need a safe shopping experience or assurance that their values were shared by the store-owner. Those who bought it at warehouse stores or online could have been nonChristians, but according to the data, if one in four American Christians bought the book, all copies would be accounted for. And given the number of churches who ran 40-Days-of-Purpose campaigns, I think that may be pretty close to accurate (Barna says over half the US population attends church at least once a month).

I'm happy Mark's joined me in what I've been saying for a while now: we need a new strategy. The Christian book industry has taken up the challenge too, so where should we start? I'd like to suggest we start at the beginning--at our guiding principles. I believe our problem comes down to this: not enough of us really believe what we say we do. And that's nothing new. How many of us really practice the Great Commission every day? How many of us break the first and second commandment often? But what about the Golden Rule? Most of us at least do to others what we'd like done to us, right?

Not when it comes to Christian book buyers (I mean buyers of Christian books). Would you like others to treat you as an outsider and say what kind of books you should be allowed to read and where you can get them? No! That's why CBA was initially formed in the 50s, when Christian books were being denied shelf space at secular bookstores. But what about today--with the largest segment of the Christian book industry owned by secular houses and Amazon carrying everything as cheap as it can get? Now the tables are turned and some Christian book buyers find their "seeker" books banned in Christian stores, and by association, themselves untolerated. The challenge to think up new ideas and strategies for expanding the customer base is all well and good when we're talking about reaching Christian buyers of Christian books. But everyone else? They're just not who we serve.

Of course, I'm not necessarily saying there's a problem with this. I suppose it might fly: "Sorry, Lord. I tried to do what you asked, as long as it didn't offend my existing customer base. Christian books just don't reach anyone but Christians."

Guilt-trips aside, since tough times are ripe times, I'd like to offer up the first admittedly-simple-minded suggestion for one of these new strategies: stop thinking of books or stores or customers as Christian vs. non. After all, we're all just reaching out of the same gutter. And in place of those categories, think of how your next act will share love and reach someone God misses. Sure it might not be as nice and neatly compartmentalized, and make it harder to thin-slice the market into subcategories. But if we really have a higher organizing principle, let's apply it to deconstructing this idea of insiders and outsiders and replace it with the idea of all of us looking to get out of the same old dirty box.

And maybe, when we're all unworthy-yet-adored, and O-thank-you-God reachable, we'll just happen to find that transcendent books can in fact sell, for the very reason that they also transcend bariers.

Formula

Form

Structure is what we think of. How something is constructed. The formula is applied and the form is made.

This is understood. This is quantifiable. This is a known, safe method to creation.

But then there's that other world.

Mt. Hermon conference was great, as usual. If you allow it, things happen there that can change you. A brief vision of a deeper space glimmers open before you, among the pillars of trees, the canopy of branches. You walk along in a different light and time and space converge into something resembling deep meaning. You were meant to come here. You were meant to be a part of this.

Of course, it's not about you. You may know some things, some thoughts to apply. You may come expecting something nonspecific and ill-defined. But you will leave with far bigger fantasies of your purpose in responding to it all. If you could only find the words...

The first evening, I sat and listened to Dick Foth. His insights matched my experience at the conference so insanely, I'm not able to talk about it yet, but that first night he shared the difference between Coke and water. Seems pretty obvious, and it is. But the real difference is in how you interpret the value of Coke, the value of water. Some people, maybe many, prefer Coke. It's got this fascinating formula, and highly (famously) protected. But as Dick points out, it's sweetness is toxic and will, over time, eventually kill you. Water it down and it won't kill you quite as fast, but it still won't refresh as well as just water. So why do so many seem to prefer the syrupy, sparkly toxin?

Of course, I love Coke too, so don't miss the metaphor here. But up in the woods I experienced a shift, one of several really, in how I think about the coming revolution I once opined upon at great length in the early days of this blog (check the sidebar). I didn't know it was coming, not really. I hoped, but it wasn't like now. Now I know. Not long now, and we'll be experiencing a major resurgence of "water over Coke." I'm not going to define that any more specifically because I can't, but those who have ears to hear, listen up. It used to seem so uncertain, like you didn't want to actually name it unless it might skitter off. I spent a lot of time defining it, looking for evidence, hoping and dreaming. I spent time defending it against criticisms. It's easy for critics to see this shift in the books we enjoy as a "watering down" of the core Christian message. And yet what do we do to wean people off of Coke? How will they develop a taste for just water?

Think about that. "Come to me all you who are thirsty and I will give you drink.... "Living water that you might thirst no more."

Former CBA chairman Steve Adams said recently to the ECPA that changing lives through Christian materials was “more likely to occur in a Christian retail store than an outlet in any other channel, because this is the one that best integrates like-minded people in a common mission.” Get that? The way I hear that is unless writers, editors, and publishers offer just water along with Coke, we may not have this influence much longer. Certainly, we need excellence at every level. But that's just part of it. We also need to be providing a whole spectrum of books that reach people with all different tastes.

Overall, what we’re hoping for is a united effort among writers and publishers to accept the myriad different opportunities available to us in reaching beyond our former restrictions. We need people who are awake and already making the connections between what is and what could be. We need people who aren't afraid of the inherent risks involved for people of faith, willing to stretch beyond the safe boundaries to try something new.  And above all, we need to be seeking the source of that inspiration in the living water, crafting works that have no place in the current market…but will.

This is how you escape the addiction to formula. This is formless freedom. For the change in my outlook and how I approach this challenge I have countless people to thank, but on my mind just now it's Madison Richards, as well as Jim Rubart and Jen McCarthy. All of you are amazing.

So anyway…who else could go for a nice cold Coke right about now?

Are CBA stores "book-oriented"?

Warning! Snarky post ahead! If you're sensitive to ironic humor, turn back now.

 

CBA Advance gets underway, and some data is released:

Leaders Reveal "State of the Industry" data:

There was some warming news in chilly Indianapolis yesterday in the State of the Industry report presented at the Future of the Industry conference.

* Retailers are becoming more book-oriented: Book sales in Christian retail stores last year comprised 29.8% of total revenues, compared to 26.9% in 1999. 

* A quarter of sales in the typical Christian retail store were in inspirational giftware, a segment that was “trending up,” and bringing “excitement and sizzle” to stores.

Anderson said that overall retail sales had increased 6.2% in 2006, although the National Retail Federation forecast only a 4.7% jump. Sales during the 2006 Christmas season rose 4.4% compared with 2005.

Anderson also noted that online Christian retail business was “coming of age,” with sales amounting to $102 billion in 2006, a 24% increase from 2005.

---------------------------------------------------

Did you catch that? Overall book revenue is up 3% in 7 years! This can only mean Christian stores are becoming more book-oriented! I know that number fluctuates every year, which is why you have to go back 7 years to see an increase in overall book sales. And other reports indicate the book sales number for the average Christian retail store is around 36% But this is really good news for people who make money off books.

 

Second, if anyone can think of a viable and respectable angle to earn me my cut of that $102 billion in mammon from online sales, I’m now taking submissions (That $102 billion-a-year number is another interesting fact since other places claim the Christian retail market is only a $4.2 billion-a-year industry.)

 

I don't mean to pick on us, but 3% growth over a period of 7 years is not an indication that Christian stores are becoming more book-oriented. And while I appreciate what Mr. Anderson is trying to do, put a positive spin on what many people see as the glut of Jesus junk flooding the stores, this measly number isn't helping my outlook. But don't get me wrong: I'm all in with hoping that spin becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

I guess I just haven't seen a lot of hopeful signs that seem to indicate this supposed "book orientation" in Christian stores. The entire Christian book industry is being swallowed by the "Christian Retailing Market"--Christian books are being renamed, repackaged, repositioned as one more commodity on the shelves at "Christian Retail Stores." And while this may seem like just one more thing for Mick Silva to get up in arms against, I can't seem to help thinking that the lack of distinction between books and other retail items is somehow connected to the kind of low quality "product" we're seeing take precedence with book buyers.

 

Maybe I'll just change my business cards to read "Christian Retail Product Editor." Then I could hand them out to the Christian Retail Product writers at all the local Christian Retail Product readings...

Note: Every Christian bookstore I've been in features Christian books as their primary offering, PTL. But it does seem to be getting harder for them...

Robert Liparulo isn't a Christian writer

"Christian fiction hasn't had the highest standard. The priority was to talk about God, to talk about Jesus, not to do the best we can.''

"Look at Pikes Peak, the voice said. Does it have God's name written on it? Does it not still sing of his majesty?"

Robert Liparulo says he isn't religious genre writer and doesn't want to limit himself

Reality Check #7: Silence Isn't Golden

Let’s face it. Some publishing realities contribute to low quality books too.

Start with money. We've got to sell books. But that creates a conflict of interest for Christians; the goals of business are diametrically opposed to God’s. No mission statements say “show us the money.” It’s just implied. Which means we’ll publish books we may not fully agree with in order to “give them what they want.” Some think it's just the way it is.

Following the “give them what they want” philosophy is an obvious question. What books are those, exactly? Some say low quality, controversial books with familiar ideas in them. They certainly don't want to read classics. They don’t want books that require a lot of effort, even if they might like them more if they gave them a try. No. Fluffy books, tune-out books, reads as disposable as candy wrappers.

Which brings us to the nutrition-to-candy ratio. With disposable books, surely nutrition and excellence are low on the list. If it’s for CBA, slip some God in there and we’re good. We don't need artsy-fartsy stuff gumming up the works.

Maybe this blog is a complete waste of bytes.

The problem with all this is that books aren’t candy. Of course, we want them to be as popular as Pop Rocks, but what’s the cost to the reader? Quality does matter. In fact, it matters at least as much as message. Maybe more. When it comes to our creations representing the Creator, what carries the message to the reader? The vehicle of our craft? What if the Bible wasn’t excellent? What if God didn’t care? What if we didn’t build our church well and it came crashing down on our heads? If God doesn’t care, maybe we’re wasting our time here.

Why would I trade my good reputation to discuss these problems in CBA? I don’t want to be known as the guy who hates CBA. Talking about this on a public blog isn’t my idea of fun. It doesn’t facilitate working in the industry. Silently contributing to the mountain of books makes a whole lot more sense. But I think our books need to better reflect our master. Whether or not “literary” books sell, we need books that don’t contribute to the idea that faith is like a candy wrapper we can use whenever and however we like. I’m so happy there are editors and authors doing good work out there. But there’s still a lot of padding on the shelves, shoddy product produced too quickly without respect of our task and its eternal significance. And yes, it’s worse in the general market, but that’s not the point.

Can I suggest why this matters? Silence about the problems pays implicit concessions to them. Professional distance shouldn't excuse us from bowing to market pressures. Christian publishers are cashing in on successes so regularly it’s become expected. We don’t even question anymore. Sales assumptions about nutrition-to-candy ratio dictate what books get published. There are accepted business practices that propagate a low standard. And we all are complicit in our silence.

Confession: I’m guilty too. I’ve compromised. I’m not clean and tidy either. I'm not sure if anyone in my shoes can be completely. And that's a topic for another post. But we don’t need an overhaul of CBA. All I’m asking for is some dialogue, an open discussion to try to balance some of these realities. Let’s stand together and have some accountability. Let’s discuss the problems and not hide behind false decency or prissy professionalism. Maybe I don't get to be thought of as classy for saying this, but I can't worry about that. Let’s deal with our book-buying and publishing decisions and not take the bait of publishers hoping we’ll buy the next installment of candy. The silence contributes more to less-than-excellent books than anything. There are some closed doors that need opening. We should probably let them stay closed, but doggone it, you just can’t stop progress.

Okay, so that little term "nutrition-to-candy ratio" needs some unpacking. Come on back.

Clarifying the issue: quality in CBA

Dangerous business, this question of art in Christian books, isn't it?

I'm a bit random tonight after reading many of these comments, so stick with me here. Sheri's reading Pat the Bunny to Charlotte while I write this. I'm struck by the obvious value of the book to our 7-month-old. To her, this is a "quality" book. And from her perspective, in this context, I can see that it is--a "children's classic," in fact. It's even stretching her, which makes it easier for me to value personally. She isn't switching her brain off to engage with it. And although she'd probably think it was even higher quality if it was good to chew, I'm not going to give in and let her.

So what if people want to check out, use drugs, drop out, drink battery acid? Shouldn't we let them? Should we make up vats of it in our basements and sell it? I mean, it's obvious that's what people want.

I'm not implying Left Behind is battery acid. I merely want us to consider this.

How do we define quality? Maybe a better question is, do we define quality? We may judge according to different standards, different ideas of what constitutes a book's value. But there must be an absolute standard in each of those areas. So what is our standard? Other books? Other markets? Our enjoyment?

This is hard. Art is hard to define.

Does every book have to be art? Probably not. But God does want us performing to the best of our abilities, and for some reason, people really get riled up when I suggest Jerry isn't, even though he admits it. The problem is, among other things, we have different criteria for evaluating Christian books. I want to look at the "book" part, others look at the "Christian" part. I want the Christian part to be inherent in the book part. Is that being prejudiced? Shouldn't we all just relax and let people read the books they want to? Why are we being so mean?

I've been asked what I have against "dumb" people.

So it hit me today as I drove home, we need to keep on, pushing on with this struggle to make room for the innovative stuff. Yes, high-selling books like Left Behind help to do that. And certainly, books like that have allowed for some great books in CBA to take on the work of real change to the landscape, challenging readers to look at the higher shelves. The Left Behind series isn't the great evil we might think. In fact, if you tune out your judgment, there's plenty to enjoy there.

But there's my challenge. The tuning out part is difficult because I wish we could all be discerning readers. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use books to escape. We all need escape; thank God for the escape of grace. And there's a correlation to Jerry's "cookies-on-the-bottom-shelf" ideology and God's coming down to our level. I do see that. Yet still, grace remains difficult. God made it available; he didn't make it easy.

I think there's value in asking these questions. It's not just to be negative or judge people and their books. It isn't to be elitist or even suggest there's a problem of mediocrity in CBA we need to fix. I want all kinds of books for all kinds of people. I just want to give equal time to books that point higher, maybe even books on the bottom shelf that challenge people to look up, reach higher. Left Behind does that for many people, maybe not everyone, but that's no crime, is it?

Ultimately, it's the writer who will have to answer for how he uses his talents. That should be something we all agree on.

What Goes Into a Mind

I know what it looks like. I have to accept this alter-ego of a whiny contrarian whose always moaning about the books and the state of Christian publishing. And for all of you who get it and know I'm really not so cranky as all this makes me seem, there are a dozen more who think I've got real mental problems for sticking around if I hate it so much. I wish I could tell them how I really feel, the excitement and inspiration I feel in getting to influence the shelves from the inside, the honor and respect I have for my coworkers and the industry in general. CBA does do a lot of good, and I'm appreciative of all the positive things it's made possible, all the good it's done in people's lives. As a capitalist corporation, it's one of the most benign organizations around and I'd like to dispel the misconception that I'm anti-CBA in any way. I personally know many people who work for CBA and I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Christian retail and marketing Jesus, as it were. These are desperate times and we need more Christ-centered resources, not less.

But from my perspective, an association representing Christian retailers and suppliers could do much better than their current slogan suggests, introduced in 1999 after significant research and market testing: "What goes into a mind, comes out in a life." What no one seems to want to acknowledge is that there's a sad reality behind that sentiment when faced with the evidence of what isn't available on Christian bookshelves. Inaccurate, ignorant philosophies of watered-down truth do not make for a healthy mind, or a healthy life. Let's set aside the quality question for a moment and simply look at the limited offerings available. What can we assume about the "brain food" that's going into our Christian minds? What sort of nutrition do you think it might be missing? Are we not able to confront the fact that we are accepting a self-imposed ignorance, isolation, and resulting defensiveness from the parameters we've put around Christian books and resources? Can anyone deny the obvious dearth of variety in our stores? Whose fault is this? Is it the bookstores' fault? The publishers? The writers? The store buyers? The readers?

When I was a freshman in high school, a lady came over to our house with her husband to talk to my parents for their monthly church update. She was a family friend, active in the church, but not known as the most tactful woman on matters of Christian love and grace. She walked in to where my brothers and I were watching some G or PG-rated movie--the only kind allowed in our house--took one glance at the screen and said, "Garbage in, garbage out, boys." I don't even remember what the movie was or what the offensive scene might have been, but I've never forgotten the feeling of abject condemnation and scorn. That kind of thing is what later caused me to run so far afield from all things Christian as a college student and recent grad.

Later, while working with the youth culture department at Focus on the Family, I ran into the well-worn illustration of the father who serves a plate of chocolate cookies to his kids with a tiny bit of dog poo mixed in. "It's just a little bit of dog poo," he says, as if somehow this makes a better point than the "one-rotten-apple" illustration when talking to teens about their entertainment choices.

It's a good thought, and certainly accurate when applied to the more disgusting evils available in modern entertainment. But the problem with their philosophy here is that dog poo is just untransformed chocolate. And not just in Christian stories either. If we take out all the dog poo, we're taking out all the chocolate. And then what do you have? Well, plain cookies, but really, you've got nothing because everything that exists is either dog poo or chocolate on some level. What's grace without sin? What's beauty without ugly? What's redemption without something to be redeemed?

If "what goes into a mind comes out in a life," then it's more than safe, clean, approved Christian products that will fit the bill here. We also need real honesty, truthful messages, and redemptive grace. A quick scan of the shelves will show we aren't there yet. One place to start is in God-honoring fiction where dog poo gets transformed into chocolate and where we get past our parochial mindsets and easily-offended sensibilities for the sake of the greater good. I believe God is waiting to work if we'll let him. There's so much more to be done and so little time to get this right.