NRP is a Christian bookstore. We may not think of ourselves this way, partly because of the image we get in our minds as soon as the words are uttered, but that is what we are. Look at our inventory—we sell books, T-shirts, music, hats, artwork, and some very excellent MP3s. But, if we were anywhere near the Christianity Today radar, they would be stumped as to why what we are doing is working—all our content has one thing in common: it’s Christian.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with Christianity Today’s April 2008 cover story about “How to Save the Christian Bookstore.” Most of the article was basically about the change in the markets with the advent of online stores and the fact that Christians have learned that they can buy most of the bestselling Christian books at mainstream bookstores such as Borders and Barnes and Noble. The disturbing part for me was the subtitle: “(Hint: Stop making it so religious.)” What? Of all the things a Christian bookstore should be, it should be religious. Now, I am perfectly happy to do without the sappy Christian products that fill most “Christian” bookstores, but the products should still be Christian.
However, in an effort to “update” the Christian bookstores, the owners seem to have nearly forgotten the point of their existence. The Christian bookstore should be more than a sterile environment where patrons can be comforted that the material will be G-Rated. For a long time, mainstream Christianity has tried to win the hearts of non-Christians by trying to create Christian versions of secular products and trends. The problem with this principle is that their versions usually end up being poor representations of the originals. What we end up with is churches that look like movie theaters, music that sounds like sappy soft-rock, and, now, bookstores that are trying to be not-too-Christian versions of Barnes and Noble. In fact, what they are trying to be is just plain odd.
One bookstore in Arkansas boasts of a “build your own” skateboard area. This store, SKIA, “has 10 television screens that continuously loop skateboard and snowboard videos with Christian themes.” When you’re done building your skateboard, you can hang out in their coffee and smoothie bar and surf the internet with their free wi-fi. Or, you can head up to House of James in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and peruse their selection of “cookbooks, garden books, hiking guides, and classical music,” and stay for a while for “live shows by country rock, blues, jazz, and folk musicians.”
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things, but they certainly are not Christian. Seriously, just how many non-Christians do you think are going to darken the doorstep of a not-so-Christian Christian bookstore to buy a skateboard? If someone really wanted a custom skateboard, wouldn’t they just go to a good skateboard shop?
The problem with mainstream evangelical churches and, now, bookstores, is that they have one moral: do whatever you have to do in order to get them in the door. On its face, this idea seems benign, but it’s actually deceiving and unbiblical—and I’m not even sure it works.
I cannot remember once Jesus telling the apostles how to soften sin and the Gospel, on the contrary, Jesus and His apostles went preaching repentance. Yes, the Apostle Paul says, “I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.” But, I’m sure that he didn’t do this so he could eventually lead them to a church where they probably wouldn’t hear the Gospel preached. He didn’t create a sterile environment where most non-Christians would probably never go-he went to the sinners.
If Christians really wanted to create a place non-Christians might go, forget lattes and smoothies—try a bar.
By Ted R
