What Is Christian Writing All About?

Ever since I got serious about writing, I have been besieged with advice on what to write, how to write, and how to sell what I write.

I have attended conferences, online and in person. I have read books and blogs and email from fellow writers. Like most writers, I go through seasons when I obsess on these subjects. Every writer must be willing to live in learning mode. These things are important to every writer, secular or sacred.

Writers who claim the name of Christ have a challenge that secular writers do not have. I deal with this challenge every day. The most important thing about being a Christian writer is this:

My ego must get off the throne of my heart and bow before Christ my savior.

Everything I write and everything I do must point to him.

Humility is hard for me. I remember laughing when my brother used to threaten to write a book entitled, My Humility and How I Got It, but my own ego fights a real battle with my commitment to Christ.

I have always been needy, thriving in childhood on being the first one to finish my workbook pages, the first one to finish all the math problems, always getting a 100% on my tests. I needed that feedback, and as time went by, I discovered that the approval of others was like a drug. The more I got, the more I wanted. When I didn’t get it, I was often willing to sell something of myself in order to get it.

Being a writer for Christ calls me to a different standard

When I write for Christ, it isn’t about me, and my objective is not to call attention to myself. If I am Christ’s servant, I give up the option of selling myself to get attention. All the attention belongs to Christ.

This past Sunday, as I read the meditation on the back of the bulletin, I was reminded exactly why I write.

“Our ego should never preach. Instead, ego should humble itself before the breath of God speaking through us.”

I like that image of God breathing his words through me. I like the assurance that what God gives me to share is not given to feed my neediness.

If somebody likes what I write, I may feel good, but that is not the reason I write. I pray that I will write what Jesus wants to share.

When his purposes transcend my neediness and my failures, then I can expect that he will accomplish his purposes. If I am an obedient messenger, then God will lead me to deliver it to the intended recipient. That is what my writing is all about.

As long as I am convinced that God has a purpose for me, I can live with the knowledge that I am unlikely ever to sell millions of books. I don’t know all the things the disciple Philip did in his life, but the story I know and treasure is about his words to one man – an Ethiopian official all by himself in the middle of a desert.

If God uses my words to speak to someone that way, then I will be satisfied that I have done the work God asked me to do. One person or hundreds. It only matters if it matters to God.

Comment Below: What is Christian writing all about for you?

* Image credit: Daniel R (Creation Swap)