Jeremy L. Berg

I went there to look for a new book to read, but found myself reading the bookstore and its shoppers instead.  Let me share what I observed.

Steady traffic by the Diet and Cookbook section.  Many people concerned with their physical appetite and eating habits browsed through Magic with Meats, Vegetarian and natural food options, Martha Stewart’s keys to impressing your dinner guests and more.

Professional looking men cluttered the Money Management and Investing shelves.  How can I wisely maximize my returns and improve my financial portfolio?  A gentlemen spent nearly 20 minutes paging through multiple large photographic memoirs in the Sports section.

Still, the busiest aisles were those trying to find the best Fiction novel or romance paperback to take home and allow them to escape from their own stress-filled lives into the more interesting lives of fictional characters in non-existent worlds with unrealistic plots and all-too-predictable happy endings.

As I watched the traffic flow and interests of each shopper, I started to do a small sociological study in my head.  I pondered each person’s unique appetite to fill their belly with more healthy and delicious foods, to fill their wallets with more money, to fill their homes with better decorations and crafts, to warm their hearts with more stories with happy endings or romantic passion.

Curious, I then got up from my chair where I was reading “The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship” by Dallas Willard, and wandered over and sat down near the Christian Inspiration and Religion section to continue my incognito observations.

I wish I could have set up a hidden camera to capture the contrast.  Imagine for a moment a surveillance camera focused on the Food, Money, Romance, Home Interior, and Fiction sections. Imagine 1 hour of footage played in fast-forward with dozens of people scurrying about, pulling books off shelves, paging through and either putting back or taking them to the cashier.  Now, imagine the camera slowly pans over to observe the Christian Inspiration/Religion aisle for another hour.  What did I see?  Nobody. For an entire hour not one person passed through.

To be completely honest, a few did pass by on their way to the nearby Self-Help section and one gal stopped for a while at the New Age shelf.  What was I to make of this reality of people coming hungry for books on how to better fill their wallets, fill their stomachs, fill their homes, and fill their spare time, and the apparent lack of interest in people looking for books on how to feed their soul and spirit?

This conclusion was made all the more interesting in light of the chapter I was reading called, “Who is Your Teacher?” where Willard claims that if Jesus really was God in flesh, then he is the master and most reliable source of information on all conceivable topics and hobbies in life — including Money Management and Healthy Diets.  But no one seemed interested in what Jesus might have to say about any of these matters.

Here is an excerpt from the chapter I was reading from The Great Omission while making these observations:

Today is often spoken of as the age of information. Information is vital to all we do, of course, but then it always has been. What distinguishes the present time is that there is a lot more information (and misinformation) available than ever before, and a lot of people are trying to sell it to us.

What happens to Jesus in the crush of the information pushers? Unfortunately he is usually pushed aside. Many Christians do not even think of him as one with reliable information about their lives. Consequently they do not become his students. What does he have to teach them? It is very common to find Christians who work hard to master a profession and succeed very well in human estimation, while the content of their studies contains no reference at all to Jesus or his teaching. How could this be?

A short while ago I led a faculty retreat for one of the better Christian colleges in the United States. In opening my presentation I told the group that the important question to consider was what Jesus himself would say to them if he were the speaker at their retreat. I indicated my conviction that he would ask them this simple question: Why don’t you respect me in your various fields of study and expertise? Why don’t you recognize me as master of research and knowledge in your fields?

The response of these Christian professionals was interesting to observe, to say the least. Some thought the question would be entirely appropriate. Many were unsure of exactly what I was saying. Quite a number responded with: “Are you serious?” The idea that Jesus is master of fields such as algebra, economics, business administration or French literature simply had not crossed their minds–and had a hard time finding access when presented to them.

That brings out a profoundly significant fact. In our culture, and among Christians as well, Jesus Christ is automatically disassociated from brilliance or intellectual capacity. Not one in a thousand will spontaneously think of him in conjunction with words such as “well-informed,” “brilliant,” or “smart.”

Far too often he is regarded as hardly conscious. He is taken as a mere icon, a wraith-like semblance of a man living on the margins of the “real life” where you and I must dwell. He is perhaps fit for the role of sacrificial lamb or alienated social critic, but little more.

But can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb? Or uninformed? Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what Christian’s take him to be in other respects and not be the best informed and most intelligent person of all: the smartest person who ever lived, bringing us the best information on the most important subjects.

My study may have been inaccurate, or poorly conceived, or skewed by other factors.  But my two hours at Barnes & Noble certainly confirmed the general fact that we are surrounded by folks everyday who are walking through life largely unaware or disinterested in the God who created them.  They are looking for answers to life’s questions in many places other than the source of life Himself.

This should sadden us, and move us toward others with the grace and truth of Christ. Moreover, we should ourselves go first to the all-wise, all-knowing Jesus with all of our life’s troubles and questions and trust that Self-Help is no help at all.  Rather, we place our trust in “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).

PS: For those who are wondering, I read half of Willard’s book (which I highly recommend), and ended up purchasing “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters” by N.T. Wright which I am about to begin right now. :)