So You Want to Write for God
Today's guest is editor, novelist, and speaker Jennifer Slattery.
By Jennifer Slattery
By Jennifer Slattery
It’s one thing to sense the call to write; it’s another to
follow through and follow through well. And while it’s true one doesn’t need a
theological degree in order to write quality material, be it fiction, Christian
living, or devotionals, we must take care to represent Christ well. This is
true for any believer in any field but exponentially so for one entrusted with
the written word.
Books have the power to change the culture, for good or bad,
and regardless of what we write, our theology comes through. For this reason,
it’s imperative that we “Do [our] best to present [ourselves] to God as one
approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles
the truth of God” (2 Timothy 2:15).
All truth is God’s truth. In other words, Scripture speaks
to every situation, every theme—absolutely every word we pen, and God’s purpose
in all creation is to point humanity to Him.
“The Word of God reveals the God of the Word; and servants
must know the Master if we are to serve Him acceptably.” ~Warren W. Wiersbe, On Being a Servant of God.
To put it simply, we must know someone fully in order to
represent Him well.
Laziness is not an
excuse for ignorance. As writers, we spend a great deal of time learning the
craft. We read books on story development and marketing, take classes on
blogging, but often approach the Word of God as if we’ve already mastered it.
Worse, as if our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions have precedence over God’s
intent.
We do this whenever we rely more on our feelings on a
subject, verse, or passage than the context with which it’s written. Perhaps
you’ve heard the term “cherry picking” in relation to Scripture. This is when
someone lands on a verse, has an instant reaction, and then uses that reaction
as their source of truth rather than taking the time to prayerfully evaluate
what they’re reading.
I think most of us would agree, God is the author of
Scripture, and He preserved each Word with an intended message in mind. We will
likely never be able to discern God’s intended meaning perfectly every time
this side of heaven, but we should do our best to try.
To put it simply, when dealing with Scripture, we must ask
ourselves some key questions:
What precisely is this verse talking about?
The only way we’ll know this is to read the verse in
context, interpreting it in light of the
entire passage, the entire chapter, the entire book, and the Bible as a whole.
What does this verse actually say?
There are countless Bible translations out there, and each
differ in their approach. Some lean towards paraphrases and others toward
direct word-for-word translations. When writing, it’s tempting to choose the
translation that best fits our argument, but when we do that, we aren’t acting
as Christ’s ambassadors. Rather, we’re representing ourselves while
misrepresenting Christ.
We can use a concordance or an online Lexicon to discover, then read the definitions of the original Hebrew or Greek words used. Note, the
word used in the verse won’t mean everything in its definition. Just as
numerous English words have multiple meanings depending on context, so it is
with Greek and Hebrew words.
If we’re still unsure, we can click on “commentaries” and
read what biblical scholars have to say about the verse and passage.
These tools are readily available to everyone, and it
doesn’t take an advanced degree to read and apply Scripture in this way. But by
taking a few moments to interpret Scripture as it was intended, to the best of
our ability, we will be better able to represent the God we serve, and lives
will necessarily be impacted.
(Photos courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/surasakiStock/pazham.)
TWEETABLE
Editor, novelist, and speaker Jennifer
Slattery has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and
live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries,
(http://whollyloved.com) she and her team put on events at partnering churches
designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact.
She writes Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and is the managing and
acquisitions editor of Guiding Light Women’s Fiction, an imprint with
Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer
loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously
fun husband. Visit with Jennifer at www.JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com
and connect with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte.
Check out Jennifer's book available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble:
Mitch, a
contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic
Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently
transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She's almost his worst
nightmare, and she s also working on restoring something herself. As he
struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her
past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected
in common, a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after
her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this
young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a
lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along
with true love?
Thanks so much for allowing me to share my thoughts with your readers! May we all do everything we can to represent Christ well!
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ReplyDeleteGreat advice, Jennifer. I appreciate the article - I think I need to reevaluate my pending blog post, and will probably need to reevaluate the passage I'm inserting in a bigger context.
ReplyDeleteHi, Katie! I'm so glad you found my post helpful! I have to do that all the time--double check what I write. :) Blessings to you as you grow in your craft and knowledge of and service to Christ!
DeleteGreat reminders to those of us who write for and with our heavenly King. Thank you!
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