Who are we writing for?
*Note: I’d like to preface this post by explaining my reasons for posting. I have grappled with the idea of publishing this letter. I’ve prayed about it and resisted it to the point that I refused to even open it for weeks. Through much prayer and supplication, I’ve determined that I ought not stay silent.
I humbly ask that before you draw any conclusions on what I’ve said in this post that you would think on it and pray about it yourself. Test my words against the Word. If I’m wrong, I invite you to share your insights. If, however, you test my words against scripture and find them to be true, I ask that you would search your heart, your motivations and your ambitions, and that ultimately you would choose the path of glorifying the Lord Most High, to whom all the glory is owed.
An open letter to the Christian publishing industry,
Two months ago, I had the privilege of attending the Royal Writers Conference through the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Virginia chapter. I felt encouraged and uplifted throughout the weekend, I learned so much, and I grew in my admiration for many in the Christian fiction industry. As rewarding as the experience was, there was one workshop which has continued to trouble me these past two months. It focused on the need to prioritize crossover fiction and appeal to a wider readership in order to save the industry of Christian fiction. After attending the workshop live, I was incredibly disheartened. I knew that I needed to watch the workshop again, and I prayed that the Lord would open my eyes with discernment and soften my heart toward the speaker. Admittedly, it was softened, but not in the way I expected.
I was heartbroken, and I’m fearful that a push to prioritize the bottom-line at publishing houses over the truth of the gospel will radically change the industry of Christian fiction. While the speaker was incredibly amiable with taking questions that challenged their philosophy, I also felt that questions pointing out the contrast between the message of the workshop and scripture were deftly avoided.
What was, to me, the saddest and most disheartening aspect of this workshop were the reasons that the speaker gave for her argument. We weren’t given statistics, sales metrics, or bottom-line numbers; in fact, there was nothing concrete in the workshop or presentation to support the assertion that Christian fiction is a dying market under its current operation. While it was mentioned that Christian publishing houses, while a ministry, must also operate as a bottom-line business, and it was stated over and over again that the Christian market is in need of saving, the foundation of the argument was based on a scriptural calling to “be as accessible as possible and to reach as wide a readership as possible.”
Who are we writing for?
I suspect we’ve reached a point where it’s become necessary to define the need for Christian fiction. In decades past, there was no designation for Christian fiction books, but God-fearing and faithful authors still managed to have an impact on the masses—believers and nonbelievers alike. This was used as fodder for the argument that clear Christian messages are not a necessary element of Christian fiction. However, we’d be fooling ourselves to assert that we could write in terms as vaguely spiritual as these authors and still have the same impact in our current culture. In fact, I suspect that a first-time reader of a book like Dickens’s A Christmas Carol would have a much different experience in 2023 than a reader picking up the book in 1843, or even 1943. The fact of the matter is, Christian fiction didn’t exist 100 years ago, because the vast majority of written works in the Western world were published from the same Judeo-Christian worldview that governed cultural and societal norms. As the culture shifted away from Christian morals, Christian media emerged as an option for believers to continue enjoying fiction (and movies, television, radio programming, music, etc) that both entertains and edifies them.
The problem with the workshop presented by this agent is that she’s working from a mission statement that I believe lacks a foundation in the ministry and function of Christian fiction. I would posit that the fundamental purpose of Christian fiction is not to minister to a fallen world (although it certainly can and has served such a purpose) but to minister to a consecrated people living in a fallen world.
While a follower of Christ may certainly feel called to write for the general market, they are operating from an entirely different position. Yes, God wants us to witness to the lost and engage with those who are currently separated from him by sin; I am not arguing for an exclusively Christian social set among believers, nor am I suggesting that Christians should engross themselves in the ways of the world in order to reach the lost. I would still expect a Christian author to write from the worldview of a believer when writing to a general market, but in such a way that they may breach the defenses of those who are either ignorant of or resistant to the gospel message. But to suggest that we are winning over readers for the Kingdom of God by offering platitudes and a watered-down Christian message goes against the warnings of scripture. Even to his own disciples Jesus proclaimed, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The workshop–How to Become a General Market Author in a CBA House
I’ve now listened to the workshop ten times and read over my extensive notes repeatedly. I’ve run the whole gamut of emotions on the subject—from outrage to resignation, and to be frank, I’ve even felt relief at the idea that I’m simply not in such a position of power to be burdened by it. It was when I landed on that particular notion that I felt the Spirit urging me to speak.
I do not hold any position of power, I don’t have a name that would be recognizable to nearly anyone in the industry, and I certainly don’t feel important. But by virtue of being a follower of Christ and having a vested interest in the state of the Christian fiction market, I have come to the conclusion that I do in fact have all the motivation necessary to carry the burden.
And since this speaker chose to use scripture to support her arguments, I will use the Word of God to refute the arguments made during the workshop.
Within the first several minutes of the workshop, the speaker began, “There is nothing in the Bible that [posits?] Christians should write Christian fiction for Christians to be enjoyed by Christians and never reach anybody else. In fact, we’re supposed to ‘go ye into all the world.’”
The way in which this agent so severely mishandles the Great Commission is incredibly troubling. If the argument is that Christians are being called to utilize Christian fiction to go into all the world, then we absolutely must acknowledge the second half of that verse, which she chose to ignore: “and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15 KJV) In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus goes even further to urge the disciples to follow their act of going out into the world to all peoples not only by preaching, but by teaching them to observe His commandments and baptizing them in the name of the trinity. “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our calling to witness to the lost does not bear fruit apart from the gospel, and any concept of evangelism without the Word of God is contrary to the scriptures and is therefore fundamentally flawed. Even if good Christian living were enough to evangelize, we have to consider that there are in fact nonbelievers who demonstrate goodness and even Christ-like characteristics, sometimes even more so than the average self-ascribed Christian. How, then, do we differentiate ourselves from those who also exemplify goodness and offer hopeful and inspiring stories or testimony? The Bible is clear—what sets us apart is only the saving power of Christ’s blood and the sanctification it produces.
Hope without Christ doesn’t save anyone—by taking away the gospel, you are literally taking away the good news. You miss the whole point.
This point was quickly followed with the statement that “Our witness is a poor one if we’re only interested in reaching readers who already believe what we do.”
I really struggle with this statement, along with many others. This one is so confusing to me though. Where is the lack of value in ministering to those who already know the gospel? Where in scripture are Christians promised to never be in need of encouragement or edification after accepting the Savior? In fact, the New Testament is full of “one another” verses—this suggests that there is work to be done among believers to encourage and challenge one another in our faith and spiritual walk. For someone with the gift of writing, that may take the form of Christian fiction. To suggest that this is a poor use of our gifts simply goes against scripture.
Further on in this workshop, after naming a series of general market authors who have found success among Christian readers as well as Christian authors who have found success in the general market, the speaker came back to the Bible. “How can we use our Christian influence through our words but not through preaching? And stories are the brilliant way to do this... Jesus spoke in parables.”
Parables were not meant to be entertaining stories used only to teach a valuable lesson on morality and spiritual truths. Parables weren’t even intended for the “general audience.” Jesus most often taught in parables specifically to reveal truths that some people, those who were not called to Him, would never understand. Christ explained this to the disciples himself in Matthew 13:13 when he said, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (ESV) The teaching of parables by Christ is not an example of the Son making his truth more accessible to the masses, they are in fact a case of teaching exclusively to those who are called to the Father.
While condemning those in the industry who balk at the idea of engaging with the unfaithful (which, by the way, I am not advocating for—I fully believe that God can use our ministry to believers as a witness to nonbelievers as well), this speaker challenged those in attendance to “think about who Jesus would hang out with if He were here.” She added, “He would be finding a way to speak truth in love just like Ephesians says. How can you use your manuscript to reach as many people as possible?”
Again, when taken out of context, this verse still seems to be a lovely sentiment on reaching out and ministering to the lost—the problem is that this isn’t at all what Paul intended when he wrote this to church at Ephesus. Ephesians 4:15 reads, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (ESV) In the verses prior to this, Paul is speaking about unity within the body of Christ. Looking at this context, we can understand that speaking the truth in love is speaking out of doctrinally sound insight to a brother or sister in Christ in need of correction. This verse is meant to be applied within the church, not from the church outward.
I don’t have any preface for this next assertion by the speaker, because frankly, it stands on its own. “To be of God is honestly, scripturally, to be of the world. Look at [how] Paul wrote to the Corinthians with the way that he was able to go and speak the language of the people he was ministering to, that’s what we’re called to do.”
I can’t put it any other way but to say this is false. To address this, I really feel the best place to go in scripture is John 17, where, on the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus is praying over the fate of his followers, the disciples. He prays:
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (ESV)
Jesus clearly lays out the model for godly living, we are in fact not to be of the world. This isn’t to say that we don’t engage with the world, as Christ himself says that he would not have us taken from the world, but we are to be living under the protection of the Father. We are to be sanctified in truth. That truth comes from the Word, not from the world. Yes, we are sent into the world, but we are sent as ambassadors of truth and Christ’s love. We can’t well represent him without identifying ourselves as His agents of truth.
Now I understand that she references Paul in Corinthians, and I suspect she is drawing on the passage where Paul says of himself, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”(1 Corinthians 9:22) However, he immediately follows it in verse 23 with “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” As John MacArthur puts it, “[Paul] would modify his habits, his preferences, his entire lifestyle if any of those things caused someone to stumble, to be offended, or to be hindered from faith in the Lord.”** He did not do this apart from the truth of the gospel though, and he would not allow himself to conform in any way that would compromise the gospel. If we as Christians choose to witness to the world through our writing to the general market by opening a door to share the love of Christ, we must be especially diligent about proclaiming the good news once that door is open and the relationship has been established; yet that crucially important step was not mentioned or highlighted in this workshop.
To finish off, I’ll give this quote that was used as a call to action at the end of the workshop:
“The commandment that I really want us to focus on is...fear not is the commandment repeated most often in both the Old and New Testament. And that’s amazing. Because I think that with that, we are prepared to go into the general marketplace. It’s harder than ever to think about stepping away from the Christian fiction box...it’s the most amazing time to be a witness to a world that really needs the message of truth spoken in a loving way. So your job is to be as accessible as possible and to reach as wide a readership as possible without challenging your conviction. And this might take a little bit of time between you and God and your manuscript.”
I’ll start with the two things I generally agree with. “It is the most amazing time to be a witness to a world that really needs the message of truth.” It’s frankly always the right time for this, but I agree with the notion that we are living in a time of spiritual darkness within our culture, though I have some concerns about the “loving way” in which this speaker feels this should be done if it is to be done apart from the gospel. I also support the idea that every manuscript should be brought before the Lord.
This is where my convictions veer off. Fear not is in fact one of the most repeated commandments in scripture, and it is applied in a variety of ways. While I certainly believe there are some verses that an author endeavoring to witness to general market readers may cling to, this commandment was discussed in the workshop with an incredibly narrow scope. The Bible doesn’t just tell us not to fear, it ascribes this lack of fear to the assurance we have in Christ and the character of God. As God’s people, we are not subject to a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), but the overarching sentiment of these verses is to trust in the faithfulness of the Lord and follow Him in obedience (without fear). While following God in obedience as authors, this may look like writing to the general market—and always with the ultimate purpose of glorifying God—but this may also be writing for the encouragement and edification of Christian readers.
What now?
In an effort to offer a truly productive critique on this workshop, I’ve spent some time praying over and thinking about alternative workshop topics that may prove to be more beneficial to attendees of an ACFW conference while maintaining alignment with scripture.
How to determine your audience: Who is God calling you to minister to through your writing?
What would it look like to lift up every manuscript, every word we write unto the master author? To determine His will for our writing and our story? Once we find clarity in the audience that the Lord is calling us to minister to through writing, what does it look like to do this effectively?
How to write gospel messages for the general market
How to write general market fiction with faithful messages, uncompromising of the gospel, and how to effectively engage with a secular audience, opening the door for true evangelism. What responsibilities do we have as authors when engaging with the world? What does it look like to be “a man of all peoples” while upholding our responsibility as agents of truth?
Powerful stories. Powerful Savior. How to write powerful and engaging stories of genuine faith that readers will love
How many times have you finished a book, television show or movie and thought, Wow, that was a great story and so well done. I just wish it didn’t push this agenda, or I wish it didn’t contain...profanity, sex, pick your immorality or objectionable content of choice. As Christians, we are so often bombarded with media and content that is uncomfortable to engage with at best and a stumbling block or temptation to sin at worst. What would it look like for the industry of Christian fiction to be filled with such powerful and entertaining, high-quality stories, that the world looks to our books and thinks, I don’t agree with that worldview, but wow! That was a great book!
When we’re being faithful to the calling God has given us, He will equip us and sustain us. The Christian fiction industry may need to make adjustments and accommodations as the world changes, but let’s not put the “bottom-dollar” above the Great Commission. Do we really want to leave the legacy of steering authors away from proclaiming the name of Christ? I am certain that if the Lord has called an entire industry of authors to minister to his people through the written word, he will sustain that industry for the glory of His kingdom. As Paul writes in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” When we partner in ministry, the Lord will richly bless us for our efforts.
There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the Word of God. We must be actively reading it, praying for wisdom and discernment, and filtering everything through the truth of the gospel. I pray that as fellow writers and brothers and sisters in Christ, you will earnestly seek His will for your writing and endeavor to glorify Him in all of your ventures, written or otherwise.
In His love,
Jessica Barber
01/08/2023
** John MacArthur “Becoming All Things to All People,” Feb 8, 2022