Revere Him
The other night a preacher at our revival used the following text and I thought about how this verse fit into Christian writing. Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that everything God does will endure forever, nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it, so men will revere him” (NIV).
That came across as very powerful to me. I thought, why is it that I write? Why is it that Christian publishers put out works of fiction? Is it to make money? Maybe. Is it to reach the world? Maybe. Is it to give the church a form of entertainment that it can be proud of? Maybe. Is it to see lost souls saved for Christ? Maybe. Even though there are many reasons for reading, writing, and publishing Christian fiction, there is one thing that should over-shadow all things. A reverence toward God.
If we write for our own glory, we are wrong. We may make a lot of money. We may get accolades from the publishing world and even the secular world. But we are wrong in our motives. Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition.” Perhaps James says it best: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:13-16).
Our writing, and actually everything we do, should come from God and we should give glory to him. You may say, “Well, why should everything I write be about reverence to God? Does a Christian contractor only build churches?” The answer is obviously, no. However, a Christian contractor will do his best work and work hard as a way of honoring his walk with Christ. He will always be honest and fair with his customers and when he completes a job, he knows that God gave him the skill, ability, and time to complete the work. I believe this goes for any profession. Paul’s appeal to the slaves in Colossians is an appeal to every Christian. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men” (3:23). Everything we do should be to bring honor to our father in heaven, to whom we have given our lives and ultimately give an account for those lives.
So, what should the works of a Christian writer really reflect? James gives an answer for that. After he warns about envy and selfish ambition, he turns to the positives. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18). A Christian writer can be a writer of many things: thrillers, love stories, mysteries, dramas, non-fiction, westerns, even horror, but in all of our work, in all of our slaving, in all of our late nights and early mornings, the work we produce should be pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. The next time we look over a completed manuscript and we worry about POV and pacing, let us also see if we have produced a work that shows a reverence toward God.
A final word from Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2:15).
That came across as very powerful to me. I thought, why is it that I write? Why is it that Christian publishers put out works of fiction? Is it to make money? Maybe. Is it to reach the world? Maybe. Is it to give the church a form of entertainment that it can be proud of? Maybe. Is it to see lost souls saved for Christ? Maybe. Even though there are many reasons for reading, writing, and publishing Christian fiction, there is one thing that should over-shadow all things. A reverence toward God.
If we write for our own glory, we are wrong. We may make a lot of money. We may get accolades from the publishing world and even the secular world. But we are wrong in our motives. Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition.” Perhaps James says it best: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:13-16).
Our writing, and actually everything we do, should come from God and we should give glory to him. You may say, “Well, why should everything I write be about reverence to God? Does a Christian contractor only build churches?” The answer is obviously, no. However, a Christian contractor will do his best work and work hard as a way of honoring his walk with Christ. He will always be honest and fair with his customers and when he completes a job, he knows that God gave him the skill, ability, and time to complete the work. I believe this goes for any profession. Paul’s appeal to the slaves in Colossians is an appeal to every Christian. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men” (3:23). Everything we do should be to bring honor to our father in heaven, to whom we have given our lives and ultimately give an account for those lives.
So, what should the works of a Christian writer really reflect? James gives an answer for that. After he warns about envy and selfish ambition, he turns to the positives. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18). A Christian writer can be a writer of many things: thrillers, love stories, mysteries, dramas, non-fiction, westerns, even horror, but in all of our work, in all of our slaving, in all of our late nights and early mornings, the work we produce should be pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. The next time we look over a completed manuscript and we worry about POV and pacing, let us also see if we have produced a work that shows a reverence toward God.
A final word from Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2:15).
posted by Sean at 2:04 PM
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