That’s right folks, rally ‘round for this one. I’ve got an idea that has potential in two good directions. Here’s what you’ll need: a Bible, some books which are relatively popular and contain bad theology or are simply written from a different Christian paradigm, and an ability to hold a garage sale, run a booth at your nearest sale barn / flea market, or utilize a service such as Ebay. If you have no interest in recuperating cost or generating profit, Goodwill donations are a good option.
Now, the basic premise is to properly “dispose” of your bad books without endangering the minds and spirits of those who may find or receive your discards. You’ll correct the errors / problems by marking them up with notes – particularly exhortations with scriptural references. So when the beneficiary of your effort receives the book he’s been wanting, it will be complete with plenty of points to ponder on why he should be more deliberate with his Bible and shop more at places like Canon Press, Draught Horse Press, Athanasius Press, and Southern and Reformed Books.
The subtle approach here would be to simply make notes in the margins of the book. Subtlety can be good, so that the victim…er, your reader doesn’t recognize the subversive tactics.
A more moderate approach would be to use a footnote-type system and attach a simple printout in the back of the book. This can be useful for adding an air of credibility to “your” perspective since it reflects a greater time commitment.
The full-on approach would be to publish a study guide to accompany your book. There would be no need to fork out a great deal of money for a Zondervan pitch; Kinko’s can produce a decent little booklet. This option is excellent because of the possibility that the lazy reader will use the study guide as an overview/summary of the book instead of actually reading the book. You might call this “Terrell Notes” instead of Cliff Notes.
This idea could turn out to be a monumental task, so you may consider starting with making notes in the reading you’re already doing. For instance, a fair and easy start would be to gather most of the Bibles in your home and turn to the copyright page. There at the top, you should find sufficient space to jot down this handy little question: “Should any man, group of men, or business entity own a copyright on the Word of our Almighty and Everlasting God?”
An easy Step 2 involves your copy of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. [Yes, it’s okay that you own this book since I’ve now given you a perfect explanation for having it in your home. Some of the more astute among you may be thinking that you wouldn’t let that book within one mile of your home…trust me, some well-meaning friend or family member is going to give you this “groundbreaking manifesto” on the meaning of life.] Now, turn the book over to the back of the slip cover, where Billy Graham, Lee Strobel, and Max Lucado have endorsing quotes. Find space to write in: “Isn’t this level of exaggeration really a form of deceit or at least utter silliness?”
There you have it. Now you can go forth either for charity or profit and sleep well at night knowing that you've made an effort to stir up greater discernment and care with God's Word. You know you've got books that you would rather not have, but you don't want to give them to someone who might soak up the errors as having your endorsement.
No need to send me royalties if you do make money at this little venture. I assure you that if I employ the idea with my own books, I've got enough bad books to make me filthy rich selling them on Ebay (okay, that's an exaggeration, but seriously, The Purpose Driven Life is a very tame example of some of the junk on my shelves).
No comments:
Post a Comment