Into the Fire

Here we go again . . .

Have you ever had an unbeliever tell you not to preach to them? I had a girl who I knew say it to me even though I never had “preached” to her, nor did I intend to “preach” to her. She simply knew I was a Christian, and she didn’t want to hear about it. Why? She already knew what she was doing wrong, and she didn’t want to be reminded. Before I was saved, I’d rescued her once at her request because she didn’t want to do what she usually did at parties that particular night. She asked me to take her back to the track with me when I left the party. Otherwise she was going to be sharing a bed again with one of the guys, and it usually didn’t matter which one after awhile.

A friend and I were discussing being “preachy” via e-mail, and he was concerned about not allowing his novel writing to become what is frequently associated with that term, i.e. holier-than-thou, condescending, and smug. That got me to thinking about preaching.

Preach: to expound upon in writing or speech; to urge acceptance of or compliance with (specified religious or moral principles)

You hear preaching all the time on blogs (this one included), websites, television, radio, and it certainly isn’t all about “religious or moral principles”. In fact, a lot of “preaching” is in direct opposition to either of those.

So that got me to thinking about what inspires anyone to “preach” about anything. That’s when the secular versus the Christian motives showed up. Technically the only similarity I could think of involving secular and Christian preaching is that both believe in their topic of choice—enough to deliver a message, to expound about the benefits of seeing it from their perspectives, and ultimately to inform so as to influence, possibly sway, an uncommitted or opposing opinion holder to see it their way. Delivery is not always a factor in preaching. The difference in the motive for a Christian, although similar, is the importance of the outcome is more intense, and the true difference lies in the inspiration for the preaching.

A Christian—any man, woman, or child, or someone who’s officially “in ministry”—who hears an instruction from God can and will preach about Him, i.e. how to find Him, who Jesus is, how they found Jesus, what He desires from the human race, and a myriad of other topics relating to His love, His forgiveness, our sin and repentance. However, what constitutes good preaching or even effective invective is, in fact, the delivery of the message. If you want to tell someone about how personally destructive sin is from the standpoint of what you’ve learned from the damage you’ve done by a constant diet of it, you’re “preaching” from humility and understanding, instead of from a directive of finger-pointing accusations and condemnation. Does this mean you have to soft-soap the message? Hardly. Love isn’t always feel-good and touchy-feely. Sometimes it’s raw and uncut. But it is kind, it is honest, and it is a whole bunch of other things found in 1 Corinthians 13.

So why should writing it be any different? How long do you know someone before they either know you’re a Christian because you’ve told them so or they’ve figured it out because you aren’t acting like everyone else in the work/play environment?

If you’ve ever taken any evangelism courses, you know that some of them are not very inspiring. Be honest. Now if you’re a shy, easily intimidated type, they might’ve been very helpful for you, and I’m glad for that because whatever makes discussing our faith in Jesus Christ easier is a plus. But if sharing Jesus is formulaic to you and for you, then you understand how it happens to appear in novels the same way.

Tell me, what in this life is more important than knowing Jesus Christ? What?

And what is more important as a writer than being inspired by and obeying God? Yes, however He decides to use you. And if by writing for Him, you get a little “preachy”, then so be it. Deliver it well.

Father, let me deliver it well. Nothing matters more than you, than your salvation in Jesus Christ. Help me to remember it always and act accordingly. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.