Popular author tackles difficult challenge
Doug Koop
ChristianWeek Staff
SAN ANTONIO, TX—Max Lucado preaches and writes. The Texas-based pastor has delivered a lot of sermons in his 55 years, and much of his teaching material has been turned into books—very popular books. In fact, in the past 25 years Lucado has published 60 books that have sold an astounding 65 million copies.
"A lot were originally lessons I prepared for the church I served," explains the affable Bible teacher who until very recently focused his writing on providing encouragement.
But in a telephone interview he described his most recent book as "a departure in that it's about roll-up-our-sleeves, while the others were about get-down-on-our-knees." In Outlive Your Life (Thomas Nelson, September 2010), Lucado turns his attention to the appalling injustice and economic disparity running rampant in our world.
He is now trumpeting a clarion call to Christian compassionate social action, and is putting his money where his words are. All the proceeds from the book will be turned over to several humanitarian agencies, and he is aiming to help World Vision secure sponsorships for 25,000 children.
But what did it take for a successful pastor to make his primary message to comfortable North American Christians a summons to help people who are at risk, in need or overlooked? "I'm trying to get that part of my house in order," he says.
"I was put back on my heels about four years ago when someone asked me what my grandchildren would think of my care and concern for the poor. That was a serious question, and I've been trying to respond. I knew I needed to give him a better reply; to give a better answer."
Since then, he adds, "My wife and I have been doing more." And he took his church through a teaching series examining compassion in the book of Acts. (Alert: those lessons are now appearing in print.) "I won't go to heaven based on good works, but they are part of our legacy even there. What we do on Earth will be remembered in heaven. I want to give my grandchild something to be proud of."
Bully pulpit
The enormous reach of Lucado's books to middle-class North Americans has now earned their author a bully pulpit for a less-welcome message than he's accustomed to delivering. But beyond the enduring appeal of encouragement, straightforward preaching and simple, image-laden writing drive his popularity. He has a gift for metaphor and readily explains biblical concepts and situations in easily understood ways.
"I don't know if I have a particular strength," he demurs. "I don't know how to write otherwise. It's what comes naturally." Lucado says any church may have a sprinkling of PhDs and millionaires, but most congregations are "full of ordinary people with a lot of noise" in their lives. "They are the ones I'm trying to communicate with," he says.
"When I read C.S. Lewis or John Piper, I marvel at how smart they are. I couldn't even understand their mail. Someone once told me I had a way of putting the cookies on the bottom shelf where anyone can reach them. But I don't think I even have a top shelf."
In recent years, Lucado has stepped back from the senior pastor role at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He currently serves as a preaching minister and is in the pulpit 20-25 Sundays a year. This gives him more time to write, and to travel.
These days the needs of the world loom very large in his eyes, and he wants the Western world to wake up to its responsibilities and do something. "There is an avalanche of need," he insists. But when we focus on the reality that we can't do everything, too many of us end up doing nothing, he says. "We can trust that our sovereign God will take all our offerings and do something good. We can make a difference."
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