equip the Church

You probably have a statement of faith on your website. It is carefully worded. It has been reviewed by your board. It is orthodox and reformed. It says the right things about Scripture, God, Christ, the Church, and the gospel.

And nobody reads it.

What they read is your catalog.

Every title you have published is a yes. Every manuscript you declined is a no. Put them together and you have a portrait of what you actually believe; not what your mission statement says, but what you were willing to stand behind when it cost something.

The catalog doesn’t lie.

If your catalogue is full of safe, broadly appealing titles that nobody could object to, that is your theological position. It just isn’t a very courageous one. It says: we believe in the gospel, as long as it doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable. We believe in truth, as long as it reaches a large enough audience to justify the print run.

People in your community; pastors, donors, and readers are making judgments about what you believe based on what you publish. Not the beliefs you’ve stated. But on the bets you’ve placed.

There is a difference between a publisher and a printer. The printer reproduces what exists. The publisher bets on what the Church needs to hear. If your catalog could have been produced by anyone, it probably should have been.

Luther published what needed to be published for the Church to be the Church, and he was willing to face the consequences. He was not asking whether the numbers would work. He was asking whether the Church could afford for the ideas not to spread. Souls were at stake. They still are.

Go look at your catalog. Not the books you’re proud of. All of them.

What does it say about what you believe? What have you never been willing to say?

What you publish is what you believe. If those two things don’t match, you have work to do.