I am about to hit the road for what marks the beginning of a busy spring conference season. This evening I’ll be speaking at a church in Mt. Morris, Michigan and will then travel with the youth to some kind of a retreat center. I’ll be speaking to them five times over the weekend, covering issues related to discernment. I covet your prayers as I seek to minister effectively to these young people!
Before I leave, I wanted to make note of just a couple of things that have been on my mind the past couple of days.
That’s A Lot of Babies
You’re heard of Nadya Suleman, no doubt. She is all over the news after giving birth to octuplets. That is newsworthy by itself, but there is more to the story. She already has six children at home, is a single mother, and had all fourteen of her children by in vitro fertilization. She collects food stamps and up to $2300 per month in state support for her disabled children.America has reacted to her with utter disgust. Recent headlines show that she has even been receiving death threats. And it seems that taxpayers are going to pick up the massive medical bills for these octuplets. Some of the comments have been shocking in their frankness and their rudeness. Some think she would be better off dead; many think her children should be forcibly taken from her and put up for adoption; a columnist in the LA Times calls her story “grotesque.”
Now I will admit that there is something very odd about this situation and something distasteful, even. It seems pretty obvious that God does not intend that single mothers bring children into the world to be raised without fathers; in vitro fertilization is not without some serious moral issues; and so on. But as I read stories about this woman and as I hear reactions to her, I find it difficult to separate legitimate concern from a more general dislike for life. So many of the reactions to this woman and her family may focus on legitimate concerns, but underlying many of these is a hatred for life. Many of these people would not voice any concern if Suleman had chosen to selectively abort a handful (or two) of her children. Many of these people cannot conceive of a family greater than two or three children. Stories like this one are a good opportunity to read with discernment and with critical thinking. What are the moral or ethical issues and what are the social or cultural issues? There seems to be quite an even split. We need to celebrate life even while being unintimidated by the serious underlying moral and spiritual concerns.
Read With Discernment
And speaking of reading with discernment, Lifeway Christian Stores has a strange new policy. They are selling certain titles with a sticker affixed to them. The sticker warns, “Please Read with Discernment™.” Note they’ve even trademarked the phrase! Authors whose books have received such a warning include Rob Bell, William Young, Brian McLaren and Donald Miller. The company’s web site offers an explanation. “We are making these titles available to our customers (along with the background and additional insight offered here through Read With Discernment) because we believe the books do present content that is relevant and of value to Christians and/or because pastors, seminary students, and other ministry leaders need access to this type of material, strictly for critical study or research to help them understand and develop responses to the diversity of religious thought in today’s postmodern world. Our prayer for you is that in whatever you read, you place the material under the magnifying glass of scripture and read with discernment, asking God to reveal His truth to you.” For each of the selected authors they post a document outlining some of their concerns. It is rather an interesting policy, this. It leaves me wondering (honestly wondering, not sarcastically wondering), if books deserve a warning like this one, should Lifeway sell them at all?
Comments (29) »
1. Andy
February 13, 2009
9:13 AM
Whoa. That “Read With Discernment” policy is interesting. It’s also surprising, given that Lifeway is a business in the job of selling books and making money, and they’re intentionally making a move counter to that goal. So congratulations to them for that.
However, I would suggest that the sticker be placed on every book sold, not just the emergent ones. ;)
2. Mason
February 13, 2009
9:30 AM
Do the Left Behind books and their ilk also get a “Read with Discernment” sticker?
If not I think it is quite telling that the excesses of Emergent get criticized but not the inane drivel we allow as ‘Evangelical’ writing sometimes…
Plus, like Andy alluded to, shouldn’t we always be discerning when we read?
3. Jason
February 13, 2009
9:48 AM
Didn’t the “old” website “Discerning Reader” have a similar caveat attached to many of the books they were selling? (Greg Boyd is the only one I remember)
4. Carrie, Reading to Know
February 13, 2009
9:49 AM
AMEN on the Nadya Suleman remarks. I’ve been startled to hear even Christians complaining about how many babies she has said. Certainly the sitaution isn’t ideal but imagine what those kids are going to deal with later on when they realize that the WORLD rejected them.
It’s a life - er, eight lives - and they have some meaning, no matter how they managed to get here. And we should fight for that!
5. Kurt
February 13, 2009
9:56 AM
Tim,
I think you wonder correctly. The idea that pastors, etc. need access to these books that are so widely read by the people (and therefore, “we need to sell them”) is laughable. We SBC pastors may be behind the curve on a few things … but most of us can log on to Amazon.com.
One wonders if they would be selling these books if they weren’t so popular. For instance, SBC pastors may benefit, far more, from reading another error-filled book … Finney’s Revival Lectures … and seeing just where some of our bizarre practices actually come from (and that it’s not the book of Acts!). But I would guess you can’t find Finney in the average Lifeway Store. It probably doesn’t sell quite like The Shack.
So maybe the answer is not in the usefulness to the pastors and lay people of America, but to the bottom line of the SBC?
6. Pastor Chad
February 13, 2009
10:00 AM
I was going to comment on the “read with discernment” thing, noting (as the others have already done) that ALL books should be read with discernment and examined with scripture.
But that would be to focus on the less important of the two issues you raise. I do not agree with the manner in which this lady has received these many gifts from God in her children. But that is what they are, gifts from God. As Christians, she deserves our help in raising these gifts to be productive and graceful people filled with the Holy Spirit. As a society we should be willing to look after all those who are vulnerable, and surely these children fit the bill.
Again, I do not agree with the way these gifts entered the world, and I wonder about her motives. But I am not in a position to judge, God is, and he has chosen to bless her with these children.
7. Jude St.John
February 13, 2009
10:12 AM
“However, I would suggest that the sticker be placed on every book sold, not just the emergent ones.”
I agree. Is there any book or author who deserves a “Read WITHOUT Discernment” sticker? Nope.
Tim, prayers for your speaking have been offered.
8. Eric S. Mueller
February 13, 2009
10:54 AM
I haven’t taken time to clearly articulate my thoughts on the Suleman story yet. I agree that the story is grotesque and is an abuse of so many gifts and programs. It bothers me on so many levels that I’d rather just not think about it.
On the “Read with discernment” program, policies like that strike me as having the attitude that their customers aren’t smart enough or Biblically literate enough to make their own decisions and come to their own conclusions. I personally don’t like it. I know that there are many Christians who appear to be running around without discernment, but it still doesn’t seem right to me to assume that any Christian buying a book is likely to be one of them. I would personally resent buying a book from a company that assumes I’m not smart enough to know the difference between “The Shack” and Romans.
9. Alex
February 13, 2009
10:59 AM
Maybe I’m cynical but couldn’t the “Read with Discernment” be used to generate sales not stem them? What up and coming theologian with an itch for controversy wouldn’t want to find out what is so potentially heretical to warrant the dreaded sticker? (S)he buys a book that (s)he would otherwise have left alone!
Somewhat unrelated but I remember when DC Talk released their Nu Thang album - it had a warning label - “Warning: This Album Contains Explicit Christian Lyrics”
Shalom!
10. jmark (Mark Loughridge)
February 13, 2009
10:59 AM
Kurt:
“We SBC pastors may be behind the curve on a few things … but most of us can log on to Amazon.com”.
Very funny indeed!
Cheers for the smile
11. Doug
February 13, 2009
11:27 AM
That Suleman story is so complicated on so many levels. One theme I keep coming to is that Nadya did nothing more than excercise her “right to choose” and nobody would have been upset had she chosen to ask the state to pay for the children to be aborted.
Does the right to choose only apply when you choose the way that others want?
12. Xandra
February 13, 2009
12:25 PM
Well, if anyone if qualified to speak on the subject of discernment, it’s you. I thoroughly enjoyed your book and I recommend it to friends and family all the time!
Xandra
13. J.P.H.
February 13, 2009
12:56 PM
Re: the stickers:
Given that people who have serious concerns about the content of books like The Shack still have need to read them (e.g. Tim Challies) they have to buy them somewhere. Why should Amazon get those dollars? For instance, I could see LifeWay selling copies of “Origin of the Species” for the same reason. The “use discernment” wording is just intended to make it clear that their offering the book doesn’t necessarily imply they agree with the author’s views. On the other hand, I can also see a case for just taking a hard line and only selling things you think are edifying and doctrinally sound.
Re: Suleman:
Peoples’ outrage is over the fact that she’s having all these kids on the taxpayer’s dime. Lots of these folks would also view her with disgust purely for having fourteen children, but there wouldn’t be so much “outrage” over it. Consider the Duggars. They keep having kids and it’s not national news. It’s the sheer irresponsibility in this case that has everyone so irked. For instance, she could have offered those frozen embryos up for adoption. Or she could have just adopted a single child to begin with, instead of creating umpteen embryos in a petri dish and committing herself to carrying all of them.
14. Bill Blair
February 13, 2009
1:25 PM
On the Lifeway deal, you might keep in mind that Lifeway is not designed to be just a business that sells books and resources as Andy alluded to. Their mission is as follows: “As God works through us, we will help people and churches know Jesus Christ and seek His Kingdom by providing biblical solutions that spiritually transform individuals and cultures.” From here http://tinyurl.com/yumqja
They may not operate this way, but I thought it might be helpful to the discussion to know that the org. does not see itself as just a Christian bookstore.
The odd thing about the policy for me is that Lifeway sells tons of books that really need an advisory stamp. Maybe they really should offer theological reviews of everything they sell (shrug). To give them the benefit of the doubt, however, it must be hard to decide on whether some resources should be sold or not. They can knock Joel Osteen out right away, but others are a little more fuzzy so perhaps the “read with discernment” policy is there to help them with the borderline cases. Like I said though, there are many things on their shelves already that could use a sticker.
15. Michael Duenes
February 13, 2009
2:42 PM
Thanks for your comments on the Suleman case. I agree that we are talking about a case of very bad judgment on her part, and I don’t have a problem saying so. But I also don’t have a problem making a judgment that IVF in general is a moral evil because we are allowing people to create multiple human beings (called “embryos” so that we can make their personhood fuzzy) and either 1)implant them in the womb and then give birth to some huge number of them that cannot be properly cared for (in this case), or 2) implant them and “reduce” the number of them (read, kill some), or 3) put them into cold storage for “scientific” use, perhaps to be discarded unused. This is a moral evil that we should be strongly against, but since science has allowed us to use IVF successfully, we don’t want to stop it. And since we don’t want to “judge” people simply for using IVF, we are now confronting people who will use it with very, very bad judgment.” So what to do? It seems now that the call will be for “experts” and doctors to decide what should be an appropriate use of IVF, but this will entail making judgments about people’s lifestyles (such as the woman in this case who wants to have 14 kids, wants to take out school loans and use foodstamps, and doesn’t want a husband), and making such judgments will infringe on people’s privacy (privacy being one of the gods of this age), and in our culture, God forbid that we call one lifestyle better than another. You see the conundrum. I rejoice that she had the kids, and I ardently oppose our anti-life culture, but the true moral issue has to start with Christians talking seriously about IVF and its uses.
16. David Kjos
February 13, 2009
2:52 PM
I think Lifeway’s explanation for their decision to sell these books is good, but I don’t think a “Please Read with Discernment™” sticker is adequate warning.
As for their trademarking of the phrase, I will continue to exercise my First Amendment right to use the phrase as I please.
17. Tim Challies
February 13, 2009
4:30 PM
Michael - As I said in my notes above, IVF is not without serious moral issues. However, I do think it can be used responsibly if, for example, the couple creates only as many embryos as are going to be implanted and if they do not implant so many that they are unsustainable. With such conditions in mind it seems that this is technology Christians can make use of with conscience clear before God.
18. Demian Farnworth
February 13, 2009
5:21 PM
Excellent conclusion, Tim. Way bizarre.
19. Michael Duenes
February 13, 2009
6:05 PM
Tim - You’re right, and I put the matter too starkly. I agree that IVF can be used responsibly, and perhaps that is what we should be advocating. But relevant to my point, a 2005 BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4724111.stm) notes that only 9% of IVF treatments involved a single embryo transfer (Not sure if that only accounts for IVF in Britian). It looks like they’re working on better success rates for single embryo implantation, but we’re still dealing with a very large number of babies that are lost. But I thought it was telling that in the Dateline interview with Ms. Suleman, NBC’s Ann Curry didn’t even hint at the idea that it might’ve been good to offer some of these children for adoption, even adoption prior to birth. That would have seemed like a good question to ask.
20. J.P.H.
February 13, 2009
6:54 PM
It’s a matter of expense. From what I understand, you could potentially extract several ova then fertilize and implant them one-at-a-time. But that would increase the cost by a large margin, and potentially the time-to-successful-implantation, so doctor’s don’t suggest it and people don’t do it.
21. Julia
February 14, 2009
7:57 AM
I like the sticker idea at LIfeway but do agree that there are probably several more books in their stores that would qualify for stickerage. Those who go into a Christian book store looking for a book such as the Shack and don’t find it will just go to another store. By selling the book with the sticker Lifeway is at least informing the buyer that there might be issues with the content that an undiscerning buyer might not be aware of otherwise.
22. Scott
February 14, 2009
2:54 PM
As an SBC pastor, I’ve complained for years that what used to be our SBC Baptist Bookstore has become so un-discerning in what they sell (Osteen, Jakes, Meyers, etc. as well as the Shack garbage).
While I agree with the sticker idea, I’m curious about why they are just now starting that, and why it’s limited to emergent junk (with Bell and McLaren at the top of the junk heap). Must be because our convention has been heavily involved in the whole emergent discussion of late, with some of our folks in the Acts 29 network, etc. Politics as usual, it seems.
23. Leslie
February 14, 2009
5:26 PM
I can’t even go into a Lifeway Store, it bothers me too much, and I leave feeling overwhelmed with how people are being led astray. However, I’m so thankful that Thom Rainer is now head of Lifeway (former SBTS dean).
As, I think about this new sticker, I’m hoping some might think “why should I read this with discernment?”
I’m also thinking “baby steps, baby steps”
maybe one day, they won’t sell the health and diet books that are in there too!
24. Michele
February 15, 2009
1:08 PM
i, too, have been very uncomfortable listening to the criticisms of Nadya Suleman. She may have made very poor decisions which show some disregard for life as well, but the real issue for most critics seems to be the sheer number of children. How far are we willing to go in respecting every single life? Is money or the need for government support the point at which we draw the line? These babies need to be respected as human beings and we can at least take comfort in the fact that they did not die in their mother’s womb.
25. Brendt Waters
February 15, 2009
10:01 PM
I believe the phrase that we’re looking for (re: Read with Discernment label) is “having your cake and eating it too”.
26. Tom Sturch
February 16, 2009
10:45 AM
Miss Suleman’s story reveals dysfunction at the personal, familial and the wider communal spheres. Her sin is ours as it exposes deferred responsibility everywhere. Trying to ameliorate it through “clean methods” such as political and technological controls without “touching” it seems to me to be legalism at its worst. Intellectual escapism (my favorite sin) does nothing and is worse. Alternatively, personal involvement with the rudest parts of our culture - touching the “unclean” - offers hope to Nadya and others like her and to future generations. Doing so in the Name of Christ is hope made certain.
27. lisa roush
February 16, 2009
11:54 AM
I haven’t been in a LifeWay store in years. Until Osteen and Meyers, et. al get the sticker, I’ll buy elsewhere which encourages me to be discerning about everything.
28. Alberto
February 16, 2009
11:03 PM
Monergism Books does something similar with at least two books, Arminian Theology by Roger Olson and another titled Why I am not a Calvinist. I noticed this on their website on Olson’s book about two years ago. Instead of offering it, they could just mention it as the best books available to know and understand Arminian theology. I don’t consider it a sin, but it sure seems odd.
29. Micah
February 18, 2009
10:16 AM
Well a couple interesting discussions …
The only comment I want to add to the Suleman one, is specifically in regards to Pastor Chad’s comments on the babies. I’m sure he probably didn’t mean it to be taken this way, but after hearing from people who have had to use IVF to have children, calling them “gifts” over and over, gives the impression that they are somehow less than human, that they are objects. All I’m saying is if someone was reading this discussion from their perspective, they would likely not be able to see past the objectification of their child … and whatever one may believe about IVF, it doesn’t produce objects, they are PEOPLE just like you and me, no less loved by God and I’m sure we wouldn’t call them an object to their face, so let’s not on some comment board …
In regards to the “Read With Discernment” policy, I too strongly believe that all books should be read with discernment. Which means we as Christians shouldn’t duck our heads under the sand and not read something that doesn’t agree with our “brand” of Christianity (this would include not reading Arminian books or Open-Theism books, if you are a Calvinist, and vice-versa). If Calvin were alive today I would hope that he would say these Christians have something valuable to contribute to our understanding of God, even if they might get some things wrong (who’s to say that we here in this discussion don’t have things to contribute to our understand of God, and yet we get things wrong too …). And if Calvin were still alive, and he wouldn’t do that, I’m pretty sure that Jesus would extend a whole lot more grace to these authors than we have … So are we following Calvin more than Jesus? For we aren’t saved by Calvin, or Luther, or Bell, or McLaren, or and of the fathers of the Church, or Paul or Apollos… 1 Corinthians 1:11-12 “My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Food for thought, truth spoken in love hopefully …