Christian Book Signing - Brass or Gold?
For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. (1 Corinthians 1.11-15, NASB)
I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the ‘super-apostles,’ even though I am nothing. (2 Corinthians 12.11, NIV) (italics supplied)
One of the best things about the blog platform is its informality. Honestly, as a practicing lawyer who is used to motions, briefs, and other formal what-not, sometimes it’s tough not to fall into the trap of slick professionalism when it comes to the blog or the preaching of the Gospel. So here’s a laid-back, Friday afternoon stab at bloggicizing.
In the olden days, preachers worked hard in getting the Gospel out to everyone and anyone who’d stop to hear it. One of their avenues of preaching was the written page. For many, big publishing houses wouldn’t publish their materials because of either the religious nature of the material or they just wouldn’t sell enough. Consequently, many of the preachers worked to self-publish their sermons, articles, pamphlets, etc. We’ve got a number of these on our shelves and one consistent thread throughout all of them is the preeminence of the message and the almost anonymity of the author. Frankly, it seems as if some of the preachers didn’t even want to have their name on the books (in the John the Baptist, “I must decrease” fashion).
Since those days of open air tent-meetings and sawdust floors, Gospel publishing has become big business. Secular publishing houses have created “faith” divisions and have actively sought to sign on Gospel preachers with five-figure, six-figure or even seven-figure advances (we know of at least one of these). Often, the preacher’s name is “branded” all over the book as part of the marketing blitzkrieg that takes place once it is introduced to the market. Part of this blitzkrieg involves book-signing tours by the market-branded preacher and Christian folks line up out the door to get a precious signed copy.
Our thinking-out-loud question is this: “Is the ministry inculcating the proper view of the Gospel in promoting these signing tours, or is this another instance of substituting brass for gold in the temple?”
Added Note
The band, Radiohead, has introduced an album where the buyers set the price. This is seen as an experiment of getting rid of the middleman and getting the music directly to the music listener. Good model for ministry materials?
Check out the article here.
i really can’t say.
Peter,
The whole PR/marketing/consumer driven approach to gospel ministry is extremely distasteful to me. I don’t like traveling preachers hawking all their “Jesus junk” (coined by Keith Green?) in the lobby every church they speak and/or sing at. I can’t help but wonder if Jesus won’t burst through the front doors with whip in hand, and ready to overturn the tables so graciously set up for them. Thanks for broaching the subject, imho, it’s a dirty little secret we all keep way too quiet about.
P.S. Here’s a post that might add to the discussion [http://chrishamer-hodges.blogspot.com/2007/08/teacher-training.html].
Peter and slw, I hear what you are saying…gets a little glitzy in the church foyer. And at some of these conferences the spread is huge. But there is an interesting point…do you notice the long lines at these “huge spreads.” The Christian public demands it. Just like the blogosphere is being tapped into, so is the secular world cashing in on what sells. To some extent, I believe it is part of reaching our world with the Gospel. I am just as guilty as the next person at standing in a book table line or offering my own wares at my own meetings. The bottom line is, if I went to a meeting that I thought was really good….and the lobby was empty…..;-(
What I think is even more uncanny….like we think this is a new phenomena…John Wesley was one of the first to enourage his young lay ministers to sell his (John’s) books at their meetings. The first time I remember reading such a thing, I nearly fell out of my chair. Of course, John W. and brother, Chuck, were the preeminent rebels of their day. For then and now….I’m glad they were.
Peter…”slick professionalism.” Is that why you’re always throwing bait out there…just to see if we’ll bite? You know you live to argue…that’s your forte and living. ;-)
slw,
Thank you for the link. The gist of my post lies in Chris’s statement, “We are not involved with the activity of raising towers to make a name for ourselves, but in raising up teachers who may be fruitful and multiply and take the instruction of Christ and his Kingdom to the ends of the earth.”
AmeriKan,
Once our podcasts get underway, you’ll see what I mean.
Arguing? Not so sure - just like to get it right. Rebel of the day? You bet.
Peter,
I think the sales-pitch used to sell ministry products makes the sale of these products either right or wrong.
During the time of Jesus’ Earthly ministry, those who sold the sacrificial animals from inside the Temple were not only telling people that they couldn’t make their required sacrifices without buying animals, but that they could only use the animals they were selling because no other animals met sacrificial standards. In other words, you won’t be able to deal with your sin unless you give us the price we demand for our animals.
I think selling books and other materiels is fine unless it is pitched in one of the following two ways.
1) You must have these products in order to be successful in a particular area of your Christian walk.
2) You can only get these products, which you can’t make it without, through our ministry. David
David, thanks for the comment. Nice to hear from you again.
As was mentioned evangelists of the past would do whatever they could do to get the word out and often this meant using whatever technology was available such as through newspapers and self-publishing tracts and books. Now imagine what they could have done with Internet!
Now I ask why isn’t the content of Christian books today being made freely available on the Internet in addition to book publishing? Didn’t Jesus say you receive free, give free? Shouldn’t we be making an effort to do that? Why restrict the message to just an avenue where you have to pay to receive?
As for the book signing — for me it seems a little like idolatry. -anthony
Anthony, thanks for commenting.
You raise a real good question. Many ministries are now providing their sermons for free on the internet, but their written materials have yet to catch up. As we’ve written elsewhere, we’d love to have a bevy of books on a Sony Reader that we could take anywhere, but none of our beloved books are available in an e-text format.
In last 13 years or so, there has been a fundamental shift in the way that legal research is performed. It used to be that law firms had to invest heavily in physical law libraries and all the research involved actual law books. Now, lawyers routinely use online research (even judges look up cases while sitting on the bench). For those lawyers used to physical books, the change hasn’t come easy. The same might be said for ministries. Change is hard for a lot of folks. In addition, in the world of ministry, books are income generators.
People don’t have to pay to receive the Word. They can go to any number of Churches who will actuall give them a Bible and a free Teaching/Preaching.
Foundational scripture: Matthew 10:7-11
Matthew 10:7-11
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Jesus told His Disciples they were to preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils and then Jesus told them “freely ye have received, freely give”, meaning that the Disciples were freely given the ability to do these things so they were to exercise this ability to help people with out billing the people.
Jesus also told His Disciples they were not to use their money to pay for the for their trips to preach the Word. So how did the Disciples fund their ministries?
To the end of funding the Disciples ministries, Jesus told them that the workman is worthy of his meat. So if the ministry acts of preaching the gospel, healing the sick, casting out devils and cleansing the lepers were to be given freely, then what is the work Jesus was referring to?
My Speculation: Perhaps the work the decuples were performing to earn money for their trip was helping people with their work/chores or maybe they sat in peoples homes and recorded, or helped them record the words they had heard from Jesus or other written instruction for future use.
Now back to the modern-day Preacher/Teacher. I have never personally seen a Word of Faith Preacher bill anyone for preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers or casting out devils. Since they freely give these things, they still need to something to fund the practical needs of their ministry i.e., transportation, clothing, food, and welfare for their families, etc., etc.
At least two of the legitimate ways they can get money is to afford people the opportunity to sow financial seed into the Kingdom of Heaven for the furtherance of the Gospel and they can create and sell various forms of media such as books, CDs, DVDs, etc. This media is a product of their work and as such they are entitled to the proceeds from their sale. If this media weren’t benefiting people, they would stop buying it.
Peter,
It is nice to be here. David