Selling Christianity, and Selling Out

by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 12/14/2005

As the holiday season raises ritual concerns about the meaning of the season being lost to commercialism, several new and forthcoming books by evangelical authors make the case that their comrades and institutions seem to be selling out the faith all year 'round.

Whether the subject is fundamentalists getting swept up in political power or churches losing their way in frenzies to attract new members, these writers highlight what they regard as a current crisis of religious integrity. Naturally, in discussing this crisis, publishers see an opportunity to sell some books.

Simon & Schuster provides the highest-profile critique through former President Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (Nov.). Carter laments how his former denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, has in his view abandoned its God-given responsibilities for the poor and minorities in favor of an agenda meant to aggrandize influence in Washington D.C.

Others fret about religious people selling out to consumerism. Gary Gilley suggests churches are trading key elements of their missions in order to grow like for-profit startups in This Little Church Went to Market: Is the Modern Church Reaching Out or Selling Out? (Evangelical Press UK, July). Shane Claiborne indirectly shames his prosperity-chasing brothers and sisters by showcasing how Christianity might be lived authentically among Philadelphia's destitute in Zondervan's The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Feb. 2006). And evangelical pastor David Fitch enumerates his concerns in The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, And Other Modern Maladies (Baker Books, Jan. 2006).

"Research shows that today's generation is one that's eager to get out there and do something, because they are concerned with social issues," Lyn Cryderman, v-p and publisher for books at Zondervan, told RBL. "Zondervan recognized there is an opportunity to reach this demographic in a way no one else is, in publishing books that speak directly to what they are passionate about."

Booksellers also are hoping readers are ready to do some honest soul-searching. "We have a suspicion that our institutions are becoming corrupted, including the church, but we're not sure what to do about it," said Jay Weygandt, former president of the Association of Logos Bookstores, a network of 30 Christian bookstores. "I would hope we would move in the direction of self-examination, but it seems there is more of a mentality of rock-throwing" in the Christian community.