There are pivotal moments in every writer’s writing life. It might be the day we finish our first novel, or the day we sign with an agent or publisher. For me, the day came when the significant edits I’d made to satisfy a publisher’s requirements meant my work no longer reflected my values. It did not glorify God. Quite the opposite. It glorified sin.
This came as a shock, because up until then, my goal was simply to write the best work I could—to get published. I felt I was almost there! Only, I came to consider, at what cost? Saint Paul gives us this warning in Romans:
For though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened.... They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:21,25
What Saint Paul is saying there, is that if we are not glorifying God in everything we do, we are not honoring the first and most important commandment. When we become enamoured with worldly things, in my case the end of publication, we are in conflict with the glory of God. A place no Christian wants to be.
With this in mind, I withdrew that submission, and all pending queries and turned to reflect upon why I was writing if it wasn’t for God. Should I even be writing at all? And if so, what should I write?
I later learned that my experience is not unique. So many authors — new Christians and mature Christians alike — have struggled with this. Here are some recent blog posts of experiences by two of them:
Sometimes the realisation that God must always come first can be paralysing. Francine Rivers writes of her experience in committing to God when she had been a published author for some time. In her words:
"The first thing that happened was that I couldn't write. Oh, I tried, but it didn't feel right. Writing just didn't work for me anymore. I couldn't escape into it. I had given myself to the Lord, and He had something else in mind. I finally accepted that it might not even be in His plan that I ever write again. And I surrendered. What I came to understand was that He wanted me to get to know Him first. He wanted no other gods in my life — not my family, not my writing. Nothing." Why I wrote "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers
Once Francine had studied the gospels, she wrote Redeeming Love. The (now-bestselling) book has had a rocky ride itself, which you can read about here if you’re interested.
How, then, can we write for the glory of God? And is the ideal writing evangelism? I think C.S. Lewis probably has the best answer for this. He writes:
“We must not of course write anything that will flatter lust, pride or ambition. But we needn’t all write patently moral or theological work. Indeed, work whose Christianity is latent may do quite as much good and may reach some whom the more obvious religious work would scare away. The first business of a story is to be a good story. When Our Lord made a wheel in the carpenter shop, depend upon it: It was first and foremost a good wheel. Don’t try to ‘bring in’ specifically Christian bits: if God wants you to serve him in that way (He may not: there are different vocations) you will find it coming in of its own accord. If not, well—a good story which will give innocent pleasure is a good thing, just like cooking a good nourishing meal. . . . Any honest workmanship (whether making stories, shoes, or rabbit hutches) can be done to the glory of God.” C. S. Lewis letter to Cynthia Donnelly (August 14, 1954)
With this wisdom in mind, and more than a little prayer, what resonated with me most was recalling these pivotal words of Jesus:
He said to him, "‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
This means that no matter who our perceived target market may be, in reality we have an audience of one: God.
So, if we obey the commandments, placing God and love for God and neighbour at the centre of our lives, we will naturally write for God. We will glorify Him. I do not know what God’s plan is with my work. However, I know that so long as I write for Him alone, He will show me the way.