My ultimate freedom is not in my choice of books. I long for that ultimate freedom that I will have in eternity, when I will be free from sin. I won’t have to worry about separating the truth from the lie, because I will only being living in 100% pure truth. I will no longer battle with the sin of the flesh. I will be made perfectly holy, set apart to worship my Savior forever. Then there will be no need for a gatekeeper. 

Here’s a tweet that was brought to my attention this weekend:

“Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t give a lot of worry to gatekeepers. Books often get where they need to be anyway. Love wins, freedom spreads.”

The author of this tweet has a book that is about to be released. Just think for a moment about how exciting it must be for an author when the manuscript that he or she has been laboring over, mostly in private, is about to be released as a book for all to read. You would think that he3 would have a lot of wonderful things to say about it. Something seems amiss when the author is extremely defensive before the book is even released.

And you surely wouldn’t expect blog posts that criticize those who may critique your book, would you? Would you? This is a red flag for me as a reader. But it really isn’t anything new. It seems to even be a marketing technique. It says, “My book is going to be controversial in the kind of way that upsets orthodox, discerning readers. But I am a good person with a good story. So if anyone challenges the content, or lack there of, in my writing, he or she must be unloving.” And boom; you have yourself a best seller.

Now if a privately owned Christian bookstore decides not to carry your book because of the content of its teaching, that is their prerogative. Are they being gatekeepers? Maybe so. If someone gives it a critical review online, I’m not so sure that is gatekeeping. But is it bad to be a gatekeeper? There are certain things that I will not allow in my home, and that is my responsibility as a parent.

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