Why Read Books? For People.

Mega-bookstores are overwhelming. On a date last week, Stacy and I went to Barnes & Noble to drink coffee and browse around, and as we were there, I came away with two conflicting impressions. First, so many books exist that should never have been written and should never be read. I saw so many titles that seemed absolutely worthless—books destined to be in the penny bin of a local used bookstore for the next twenty years. I was saddened by the wasted time of the authors, editors, publishers, and readers of such books.

However, just when I was beginning to get discouraged, I spotted a shelf featuring the Barnes & Noble Classics series. I carefully studied the titles to see which books Barnes & Noble had deemed classics. I saw many books that I had read—Pilgrim’s Progress, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn to name a few—but I began to covet the many books in the series that I have not had opportunity to read. I began to imagine spending a lifetime reading such classic books—treasuries of human thought. I imagined myself locked away in some ivory tower—or rather some cabin in Kentucky with a fireside chair—devouring all this information and storing it away into my mind for—for what?—for me, just for me, all for me.

When I realized where my thoughts were leading, I became disgusted with my envisioned self—the miser of knowledge. So, I reacted in my mind by fleeing in the complete opposite direction—I want to give my life to God’s word and ministering in Jesus‘ name to people. I don’t want to lock myself away for the selfish pursuit of human knowledge but give my life for the sake of humanity like Christ gave his life.

It was then that the pendulum which I had been riding slowed to the center. I had made enemies of friends. Perhaps my years of study at institutions and under teachers that cherish books had unconsciously preconditioned me to this. In Bible college and seminary, it seems that many students choose fairly early on to be either a book person or a people person. I had tried to walk the line between the two, but finally in Barnes & Noble I reconciled these friends by coming to this conclusion: People are the purpose of reading. Reading the Great Books opens a window into the minds, hearts, and souls of people. Great literature opens our eyes to the emotions, motivations, and values of people. By understanding people better, we are better able to apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to people’s lives.

I was even more encouraged by this thought when I realized that I was proposing for myself nothing less than the practice of the greatest missionary the world has ever seen—the Apostle Paul. The great missionary had read the great books of his time, even though such books were not available as $6 paperback editions at mega-bookstores. On Mars Hill, he quoted Epimenides and Aratus (Acts 17:28). He quotes Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33. Then, again he quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12. Paul’s wide-reading did not hinder his pursuit of biblical study or love for people—he excelled in both. Rather, he filtered such authors through his biblical worldview and used them to understand, explain, and reach the Gentiles with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are many, many worthless books, but there are also many that help us understand humanity within their cultural contexts. As any missiologist will tell you, if you want to reach people, you must understand people. Read for the purpose of people. I want to read so that all peoples will worship God in Christ.