Throughout my time on this earth, I have found that one of my most fruitful times were often when I found myself meditating on the things I would pick up and read.  At a very young age, one of my greatest passions were reading books.  I would often incur the jokes of my siblings for always having a book on hand or reading for extended periods of time in the vehicle during travel.

One of my favorite hangout places when I was younger was the public library.  It often served as a quiet sanctum from the worries and cares of day to day life.  It was always interesting to see that unspoken law of the library that “silence be observed at all times” being honored by adults and children.   I am afraid that now even librarians are worried about their relevance in an society that no longer needs to travel to the library to get its information.  That is a legitimate concern.    Consider this brief reminensce as a window into my passion for an area of learning that has challenged and grown my intellectual habits.

As a Christian, one of my greatest concerns for the Church is seeing a renaissance of learning that will open up new avenues of understanding specifically with a Christian view.  It is fascinating that in the past the seat of learning found itself grounded within the church and only given the last few centuries have we begun to see this shift into the secular arena.  The church’s relinquishing of ground in the academia has brought on a shattered visage of Christ’s church.  A secular society has all but decided that the Christian community has long since been bereft of the mind and that her appearance in the public square can be seen as nothing more than the forays of a fool.

This project that I hope to undertake (I just need to find the time to sit and write) will give thoughtful book suggestions.  It is often hard to navigate in the shifting sea of books that multiply daily.  If you are like me, you do not have the time to read books that will be a waste of time.  I find that often many Christian websites and blogs center their book reviews on current Christian books on the market.  These individuals’ efforts are truly a blessing and I find myself taking up some of their suggestions every now and then, but I have often worried about being too narrow in the prospects a Christian is willing to read.

One of the dangers is the chronic narrowing of one’s perspective.  Have you ever been engaged in a conversation and found yourself flummoxed by the fact that your not getting anywhere?  No matter how many times you seem to reiterate what it is your trying to put across you just cannot seem to connect.  I found myself in this predicament more than once, but I began to find that by starting where my listener was often gave us common ground to work with.  One of the ways to discover this common ground is knowing more about where your listener is coming from.  Books allow us to do just that.  They broaden our perspective and allow us address more fairly the listener’s concerns.

Another danger is irrelevancy.  Now by saying this I am not saying that the Christian church be all things to all people, but that the church truthfully engage where society is.  Dr. Ravi Zacharias made a point in saying that during World War II, one of the ploys that the U.S. Forces used against the German Nazis were the use of rubber dummies.  These rubber dummies would be deployed in certain areas of the battlefield to focus the enemy’s fire.  The goal was to both divert fire and to use up the enemy’s resources making it safe to land U.S. paratroopers in hostile places on the battlefield.  The question is simple: where is the church using its resources?  Have we been diverting our efforts towards things that do not meaningfully engage our congregations or the public at large?

Martin Luther, I think makes this issue clear:

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.  Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

I propose to set forth a growing book list that will not only account for only Christian classics or books (these are both edifying and necessary), but also books like the classics, sociology, science, philosophy and history (among other things).  The focus will always be towards a growing understanding of the Christian faith, but also with discourse along the broad spectrum of literature shared amongst a broader group of society.  I challenge you to be bold in reading some of these books (some of them may even come from people critical of the Christian faith), opposition can do one of two things: 1) keep you down 2) challenge you to rise to meet it.  I pray that it will be the second.  God bless.