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The Risky Business Of Writing About Culture Conflict

My call is to write about living Christian in a secular world. That puts me on a sharp edge. The cultural conflict between Christian thinkers and secular thinkers hones a fine edge. Anyone trying to walk on a knife edge wants to find a broad, flat, comfortable place to walk and get away from the brink.

An easy option would be to delve into secular issues, picking them apart and arguing with them, because slicing and dicing the ideas of people who disagree with me is easier than serving Christ. Secular thinking is mistakenly believed by some to be more elegant and sophisticated than religious thinking, which makes it all the more delightful to create an intellectual kabob that skewers esteemed philosophies.

It would, likewise, be easy to advocate for Christian dominance in the culture, because I believe in Christian teaching. I have learned that the Bible reveals the way people are supposed to live, and it would be easier to advocate for the Bible as the guide than to advocate individually for the legal principles that grow out of the Bible’s moral and ethical teachings. For most of US history, Christian thinking has been dominant, but the culture of the US today is much less cohesive than it was in 1776.

My call is to help faithful believers see the issues clearly and to encourage them to seek the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to know how to navigate in a secular culture.

There are a lot of touchy issues in this realm. To write in this realm is to stand on a virtual knife blade. It would be very easy to shred myself in the process of writing, a prospect that makes me feel afraid sometimes. I’m still a sinful person, and people on the other side can always find a weak spot.

It would be equally easy to shred the opposition. I am as good at snarky insults, piercing word plays and satirical parodies as anybody. I am capable of ferocious wit, and I have paid the price for it in broken friendships.

My call, however, is not to decimate the people who disagree with me. There are people who do feel called to biting satire, and I leave it to them. I, on the other hand, feel called to a redemptive work. That means that I want to lift up and encourage Christians confronted with belligerent secularism, and I actually hope to be used of God to win over belligerent secularists.

The challenge is to use the knife edge where I stand as a scalpel to perform healing surgery rather than as a switchblade that lacerates an opponent.   

This knife edge sends me into some very edgy topics. I submitted an op-ed with my views on the LGBT political agenda to a news service, and it was rejected as offensive. I commented on a hot topic on Facebook only to have a Christian friend tell me I was too sure I was right. On the other hand, some people read my work and are strengthened in their faith. Some people who call themselves secularists engage in conversations that don’t necessarily come to a conclusion so much as they open the door to new thinking.

Writing on the edge is scary sometimes. Yet I notice that during the past few months, as my understanding of my calling has become clearer, my following has increased. I take that as confirmation that some people are served by my commitment to my calling. My numbers won’t impress anyone but me. For two years I had three followers. Now I have more, and new ones come aboard every week. I have stopped thinking of it as marketing; I think of it as discipleship. Maybe mentoring. I am learning a lot more than I am teaching, the real blessing for writers and teachers. I pray that sharing what I learn will be a blessing to many and perhaps light the path for a few Christians and a few secularists. If I don’t fall off this knife edge where I write, I may actually become a force for healing someday.

QUESTION: Have you come to a place where you’ve grown comfortable with your writing voice? Do you feel comfortable writing about culture conflict? Why or why not?

* Image credit: United Nations Photo (Creative Commons)

Comments

  1. says

    Katherine, you’ve hit a cord with me on this one.

    I also like to write on the edge. In fact, I have another blog that deals specifically with the controversial issues surrounding Christianity (http://www.crazyaboutchurch.com/). Because of that I get a great many people who flat out don’t agree with me. And that’s OK, because I expected it. But it also has attracted more readers as well.

    Keep up the great work you’re doing, my sister in the Lord!

  2. says

    I haven’t completely honed my voice yet as I’m rather new to writing, but I will say that I find the underlying root of all my ideas coming from Christ. I never used to think I would write anything in a “Christian” way, but turns out, when I surrender my thoughts to Him, they always have that undertone.

    Personally, I like it that way. I’ve never been great in front of people when talking about my faith but I can very easily put it into words and it seems to resonate with people. Learning to write from the heart is hard because sometimes things come out we never thought would.

    I love the knife metaphor you used and just may borrow that in the future. Thanks for a thought-provoking post, always the best kind!

    • says

      I think you are doing it right. When you let Christ lead, then you know you are serving him. The whole universe is under his dominion. I use the term ‘secular’ because that is the term people use who want to make a distinction between the world where religious ideas rule and the world where they don’t. In the person of Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit, no place is ‘secular’ or ‘not subject to God’s sovereign will.’
      I hope that metaphor serves you well.
      Blessings.

  3. says

    Looks like we are neighbors Katherine, i live in Aberdeen, a few miles outside of Baltimore 🙂

    I doubt I will ever ‘arrive’ when it comes to my writing voice :). It’s a constant work in progress. There seems to be something new to learn, adjust, unlearn, grow. i appreciate the growth but at the same time accept that so long as am on this side of the sun, I will always need God in that area too.

    • says

      I am glad to meet a neighbor. I remember riding past Aberdeen on the train when I was working in New York.
      I don’t think a writer ever ‘arrives.’ I don’t think a follower of Christ ever ‘arrives.’ We are always becoming, learning, growing. If we ever ‘arrive’ it would likely produce the fate of a ripe fruit. Once the fruit is ripe, it begins to deteriorate. I would rather be ripening than rotting!

  4. says

    Good post, Katherine. It is hard writing about some things. Your analogy about the knife reminds me of something I recently read from Anne Lamott. “You don’t always have to cut with the sword of truth, you can point with it too.” I think that is a great reminder for us all.

  5. jill_richardson says

    Nice work. I was afraid from the title this post was going to go the opposite direction, so I’m pleased to see someone who so carefully wields a scalpel in a culture that is sick, not at war. I love your perspective.

  6. Ron says

    Thank you for the great encouragement. I am just starting out in the blogging world. Don’t even have a domain yet! Cultural issues grab me but the challenge to be a vessel of grace and truth must be foremost. Bless you! I will be stopping by here regularly.