Author Francis Chan has done it again, challenging the Christian community with his latest bestseller, Pictures of People Reading My Books In Coffee Shops.
Chan has been a popular author since 2011 with the release of Crazy Love. That book about living out a life-changing, revolutionary Christian life, instantly struck a cord with American Christians looking for new books to take pictures of themselves reading while sipping $7 caffe lattes.
With Pictures of People Reading My Books In Coffee Shops, Chan is leaning into the phenomenon – much to the delight of his readers. Kyle Donaldson, a longtime “Chan Fan”, has already posted 314 separate photos of himself drinking coffee while holding the book, unopened. Each post has been accompanied by the same three hashtags: #lifechanger, #wrecked, #isaidnofoam. “It’s really a calling,” says Donaldson. “I’m not just drinking a Grande iced 3-pump coconut milk white mocha; I’m doing the Lord’s work.”
In the introduction to the book, Chan explains his motivation for writing it: “Christ has called us to be a light in the world. We are to be his witnesses wherever He sends us – whether that be a Starbucks in the heart of New York City or a Starbucks in a poor fishing village in Bangladesh. Let the light on your phone shine, dear Christian, as you snap photo after photo of yourself reading my books while sipping on a caffe latte.”
Paraphrasing Jesus, Donaldson reiterates this sentiment: “They’ll know we are Christians by our Instagram posts.”
