In October this year, I visited my sister's place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and had a great time with her family. On my final day in Tulsa, I went out to the local Mardel Christian Bookstore to get another copy of Oswald Chambers' devotional "My Utmost for His Highest." Sadly, I lost my copy somehow and I was borrowing a buddy's copy and my heart longed to get my own copy again.
As we entered the bookstore, it was insane. There were so many choices of Christian-themed items from Bibles, journals, fictional stories, non-fiction stories, autobiographies, self-help books and the list goes on, on and on and on. I felt overjoyed too, oddly enough. What better way for a Christ-seeking man to get into a store like this and have any option at the grip of my hands right then and there, right?!?! Well, maybe.......
Once I plowed through all of the first wave of displays and so forth, I tried to peek around to see if I could even get lucky finding Chambers' devotional. I ended up getting help to find the book but again had to go through a bunch of other types of books and displays to get to the one I wanted. Then more choices.......new versions, big type, etc. All I wanted was my old-fashioned book! Then it was there.......for only $3.99. :)
I chose to keep looking around the store while my brother-in-law did the same and I went to the discounted book area to see what interesting spirit-filled books I could find. Before I knew it, I had at least 5 titles in my mind I wanted to purchase and it suddenly hit me when I sent a text to my buddy back home about them........"When do we really get filled with too much 'information' and items even at a Christian bookstore?" Don't get me wrong, I think there are some great sources of faith-driven books and everything at Lifeway, Mardel and other types of Christian bookstores. However, I noticed myself even getting caught up in the 'stuff' that can fill our lives. Another question for all of us - "Do we even know if this author or person is truly a follower of Christ?" One key example is Olsteen. He preaches/motivates about half-truths. Only the great parts of the Bible are taught in his sermons and books. Are we truly discerning of the items we consider buying at the bookstore or are we caught up in the flare and glamour of the place?
The big 'gut check' of it all is this: What if we all stopped worrying about these self-help type of books and focused on Christ's real Truth in the Bible? What would things look like?
Not only this question is posed for other readers here, but myself too. It's a challenge to focus only on God's Word and not folks' opinions of it. What will you choose differently going forward? How will it affect you when you go to a Christian bookstore or online site?
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