That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life...
Philippians 2:15-16a

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Christian Book Store ~ Why I Don't Like Going There

I went to the Christian Book Store today.  Upon entering, my ears were assaulted by a raucous mix of drums and guitars playing LOUDLY over the sound system.  I think someone was singing something... maybe it was about God??? I'm not sure.  I couldn't make out the lyrics.  I tried to tone out the music while a browsed.  Typically I avoid the stores in the mall that play such loud, discordant music, which, in my opinion, doesn't even deserve the label music.

I browsed around the store for a few minutes, mostly in the kids section.  I was looking for Christmas gifts for my Sunday School class.  I was disappointed in the selection.  What in the world is Christian Manga?  Oh, and you can get "Faith bands."  You know, like the silly bands that all the kids wear now on their wrists, but when you take them off they are in different shapes like animals and stuff.  I did find some small notebooks with some nice Christmas sayings on the front of them.  The price on them wasn't too bad.  Some things definitely seemed overpriced.  I wasn't about to pay $1.69 for ONE book mark, even if the verse on it was KJV.  Desiring a book/card/etc. that quoted exclusively from the King James Bible severely limited what was available for me to purchase.  As in, limited to almost nothing!

I briefly looked around the other book sections, but decided not to waste my time.  The plethora of false teaching expounded in almost all of the books was disheartening.  Many I could tell just by the cover or title that they weren't going to be biblical.  I looked a bit more in the gift section.  There were some nice things there.  Mugs, art, calendars, etc., but again, most of the verses on them were anything but KJV.  On my way back to the cash, I was struck by the fact that I saw they were selling rosaries.  Am I the only one that has a problem with this?  I think that's reason enough for me never to spend money in that store again!

As I left the store, I thought, is the concept of a "Christian" book store even something Christians should be doing? Obviously, there was no such thing as a Christian book store in New Testament times, so is this just something that falls into one of those "gray areas."  You know, things not specifically addressed in Scripture, so it doesn't really matter if we do them.  But, then I wondered is a Christian book store something that pleases God?  Is God glorified by what they are selling?  Is He glorified by me buying it?  Am I better Christian for going to that store today?  Are we cheapening Christianity by selling every book written by every author claiming to be Christian no matter how aberrant their doctrine is?  I can't think of any other reason a Christian book store that is owned and operated by people who claim to be Protestant, evangelical Christians would sell rosaries other than money?  Can you?  Are we making merchandise of Christ by buying and selling in His name?

4 comments:

  1. I fully agree. We have a KJV bookstore close to us. OR ~ suppose to be KJV. I went in to get some book marks for my SS girls. I pick up 20 of the 23rd Psalm. Got to the counter and looked at one and to my surprise it was way off. I mentioned it so the lady took them off the shelf.
    Later I went in to get a small gift. It had the modern words and I mentioned it. I was told that it did not bother if one word is different. It meant the same. I told her it mattered to me.
    KJV? I don't think. So I make my own on my computer. That way I know what i am getting.
    Good post and good points.

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    1. It sounds like this store is KJV because they know there is niche market and some Christian bookstores don't have them on the shelves - if you want a KJV in some stores they have to special order them. I've never had a problem with buying a KJV in my local Christian store but may be that's because I live in Canada and we Canadians love the KJV more than Americans do - I know the Queen does - I have one of the 400th anniversary coins that she personally commissioned to be minted.

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  2. Hi Aliene,

    I don't think there's even such a thing as a KJV bookstore in all of Canada. At least I've never heard of one. It would be nice though! Even a "supposed to be KJV" would be nice!

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  3. I haven't been to a Christian bookstore for a while so I don't what music they play if at all in the bookstore where I live in Langley. I have been to secular book stores like Chapters (Chapters sells some Christian books as well and at better prices than any Christian book store) and I don't recall any loud music there. I think that's stupid of a Christian book store to play loud music - It's not like HMV which sells music? It's a store that sells books - they may sell other things as well - they usually do now - but that's no reason for the store to play loud music. I wonder how many customers are thinking - you know I'd go to this store more often if they played loud music. Maybe the reason is they don't want to stay too long. In a store like Chapters it's like a library, you can read books there so they are not trying to get you to buy something right away and get you out of there. If you go to a book store and they ask 'May I help you' it's sometimes a polite way of saying they want you to get you came for and leave or just leave if you can't find any thing. Personally I download books now to Kobo or Kindle on my PC - it's cheaper.

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