As for those Rich in Books in this Present Age

How can we in the West justify our embarrassing riches of good books in light of the global theological famine?

I remember first wrestling with this question as an undergrad student at Southern Seminary. Financially speaking, I was a broke college student. But when it came to my personal theological library, when it came to my riches measured in books, I was fast becoming a millionaire.

In addition to the many good books I was required to own for classes and those that I chose to acquire, I also had easy access to a great bookstore on campus and a massive theological library. And I lived in a city that was positively chock-full of other bookstores and public libraries.

Having grown up in Melanesia and having already served a year among the unreached in Central Asia, I knew that this was not normal for most Christians around the world and throughout history. At the time, the believers I knew in Central Asia had less than ten Christian books available to them in their language. I knew that most pastors around the world served without what we could consider the most basic tools of pastoral ministry – access to good commentaries and books on theology and Christian living.

I wondered if we were engaging in some kind of gluttony, living as we were in a continual feast of the printed word when so many of our brothers and sisters around the world were starving. Were we guilty for our continual accumulation, for our full bookshelves lined with authors like Calvin, Hoekema, Augustine, Piper, Lewis, Dever, Goldsworthy, Keller, Stott, and so many others?

Ultimately, the Bible’s instructions for the rich in this present age provided the answer. Essentially, it is not wrong to be a rich Christian. But it is wrong to be a rich Christian who is not generous, who does not seek to leverage their relative wealth to love others.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

-1 Timothy 6:17–19

According to this passage and others, those of us who were rich in Christian books are to not take pride in them, to not set our hopes on them (but instead on God), and to be generous and ready to share our book wealth with others. The presence of wealth is not unChristian, but the presence of idolatry is – and the absence of generosity.

There may be some Christians out there whose hope and pride are so bound up in their theological libraries that they need to give it all away. But just as with monetary wealth, for most of us, this is not the best way to love others. Most Christians are not called to “sell all we have and give to the poor,” but rather to steward our wealth through sacrificial giving. Vows of poverty are worthless if they are not for the sake of love (1 Cor 13). Love is the determining factor in whether or not we keep or give away our wealth. Even itinerant Paul owned a personal library of parchments (2 Tim 4:13).

Can you love and serve your family, your friends, and your church by keeping your books? Then keep them, and with a good conscience. But also, remember those who are starving. An active involvement in helping those in famine is an important way that we can continue to feast with a good conscience.

These conversations back in college eventually led some of my friends to set up a bookshelf in our campus bookstore where students and others could donate books for Bible colleges in other countries. Other efforts, such as the ESV’s Global Study Bible were also taking off in those years. I’ve always loved seeing the Western church get serious about resourcing the global church with printed gold.

For me, this passion has never fully gone away, as even my new role in Central Asia is going to focus on translating and creating good articles, books, and other resources for local-language churches. I am also reminded of these things as I once again sort through my books and try to decide which I will haul with me to the other side of the world, which I will store, and which I will give away.

Are you also rich in books in this present age? Want to know of a good opportunity to be generous with that particular kind of wealth? Today I read of the opportunity to send 30,000 good books for a groundbreaking African theological library. Central Africa Baptist University has been gifted a shipping container that can hold 30,000 books. These books will help establish the Paul Kasonga Theological Library, a vital resource for a continent awash in the prosperity gospel.

We can send our gently-used theology books to help stock this library or give funds directly for them to purchase the books they need. What a great opportunity for us who are so wealthy in books to be “generous and ready to share.”

We are not the first generation of Christians to be so book wealthy when much of the world lives in theological famine. The Irish Christians of the early Middle Ages faced a similar predicament. Their answer was a missionary one. Once considered the ends of the earth, they now possessed the vast majority of the books, libraries, and scholars of the Western Christian world. So, they left their shores and brought Christianity and its books back to a Europe overrun with paganism and illiteracy. In the process, they forever changed the future of Christianity and even Western civilization.

When it comes to our own fabulous wealth of good books, may we be like those old Irish monks. We are rich in books in this present age. Let’s leverage those riches.

To support our family as we head back to the field, click here.

For my list of recommended books and travel gear, click here.

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