NeoZine

by Joesnake

The title of “Religion Saves” is misleading in several ways. The fine print says the statement “Religion Saves” is a misconception, which is fine, but then we would expect the book to look at misconceptions that surround Christianity. Not so. Rather, Driscoll answers the most popular questions posed by his website visitors. The whole experiment would have been better-packaged as it really is – Why I Believe What I Believe.

Reading “Religion Saves” makes me wonder why he even bothered publishing this book. But don’t misunderstand me: the nine questions include birth control, sex, dating, grace, and the emerging church, which are all relevant issues. Driscoll delves into them in a worthy manner, so it is a good investment of time and effort to read the book.

However, in the spirit of cultural relevancy, wouldn’t Driscoll be more culturally-relevant by disseminating this material in a Millennial way? Why not as blog posts or in a downloadable format as Benson Hines did with his e-Book, “Reaching Campus Tribes: An Opening Inquiry”? Younger generations get their information from fast and free electronic sources, not antiquated hard copies. Doesn’t Driscoll want to reach the Millennials?

Driscoll is one of a few modern “heroes” for us younger-generation Christians.

But hardcore Driscoll fans will enjoy this material, despite the media he uses. His brash and quotable style is appealing and suited towards up and coming generations, which is precisely the reason his online videos and sermons are so popular.  (He is “on a mission to both put people in heaven” and put the “fun” back in “fundamentalism”. )

In a world full of boring preachers, Driscoll stands out as a shining beacon that says Christianity is supposed to be life-changing, radical, relevant, and fun.

This is why I found it difficult to understand who Driscoll’s target audience actually is. We would expect him to garner new fans with every effort, aimed at growing God’s kingdom. But really he penned this book for his existing fans. It isn’t a good book to give a non-Christian friend, for example, because instead of dialoguing with a position, he’s just explaining his own position on questions asked.

I wonder why Christian authors who truly desire to get their information into as many hands as possible don’t explore more successful, modern channels of communication. Consider Radiohead’s promotion of “In Rainbows” – they offered the album for whatever price consumers were willing to pay, even for free. The result was one of the more successful albums in recent memory, and it added exposure, concert revenue and album sales for an already ultra-popular band even during a recession!

But I suppose books make more money than blogs or e-books, and publishers want writers to fulfill their contracts to write more.

To his credit, Driscoll has, as stated in the book’s introduction, already given sermons and created youtube videos answering the questions he explores in “Religion Saves”. And Driscoll is beginning to respect electronic publications. He offers one free e-book through relit.org called “Pastor Dad”. (Does anyone care to read it?)

Next, we’ll review the actual material presented by Driscoll. Stay tuned.

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