Here's something I just read that I can't seem to get out of my head. This minister was writing about a luncheon he attended: "The guest speaker? The most famous author in Christian history and Senior Pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, Max Lucado."
I'm still laughing to myself.
Now I'm sure the guy was trying to be complementary, but that could be one of the most ridiculous sentences I've read in a long time coming from a well-educated person. It's so sad I refuse to hyperlink to the article so as not to embarrass him further. Actually, I still haven't read the entire article because I couldn't get past that statement.
Just because Max sells plenty of books in the Christian marketing machine doesn't mean he's the most famous author in Christian history.
There was once this guy named CS Lewis who wrote a few books you might know. Our his good friend JRR Tolkien wrote some Christian -based fiction that sold well.
You might not have heard of GK Chesterton who lived late 1800's to early 1900's, but he, despite his poor dietary habits, was a stud in his day.. His book Orthodoxy is a masterpiece of Christian literature that is still influential 100 years later.
And that's just the past 150 years. What about John Calvin or Martin Luther? What about Augustine of Hippo who's City of God and Confessions are still read 1600 years later? And, sorry to point this out, but the apostle Paul was an author. Wrote some interesting stuff that Max felt compelled to write a book about; a book that was able to combine "the gentle wisdom of Max Lucado with the timeless Word of God." Yeah, baby.
Look, I'm not trying to be mean here and I really have nothing against dear Maxwell [I even have financially contributed to his empire]. But his books are illustration laden and will not be referred to a hundred years from now. But Paul and Augustine's works, however, will indeed stand the test of time. The most famous author in Christian history? I think not.
It just goes to show you that people struggle to see the context of world history beyond their own generation.