Writing as Christ's Ambassadors

 

One of my favourite Christian singers came to my town to perform at a music festival. I’d seen him in concert three times back in the 1980s and I had eight of his albums, so I was excited at the chance to see him again. He gave a wonderful performance and I stood in line afterwards so he could sign the two CDs I’d recently bought. He signed one of them, but when I tried to hand him the second one, he just looked down at the CD and looked back up at me with a fairly neutral expression—not smiling, not scowling, just ... nothing. I took that to mean that he wasn’t going to sign it, so I smiled weakly and left the queue. I was SO disappointed. He wasn’t the friendly, approachable artist I thought he’d be.

The example I’ve given is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. Maybe I caught him on a bad day or he’d been told there was only time to sign one item for each person. However, we sometimes hear of prominent Christians who have had a more significant fall from grace. It could be moral issues, addictions, the lure of money or even issues that involve criminal charges. How do we react as readers or listeners of their material? Does it change how we feel about their body of work and their ministry? And perhaps more importantly, what lessons can we learn for our own creative enterprises and ministries?

The Hypocrisy Factor

Although we are all sinners and any of us can fail, God does expect us to pursue righteousness and follow his paths so that our words match our actions. For example, James 2:14–17 reminds us that it’s no use telling someone to ‘stay warm and well fed’ if we don’t provide for their needs. Faith without works is dead. Jesus also rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and told the people not to ‘do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach’ (Matthew 23:3).

As writers, words are our currency. We use them to tell others about the things God has laid on our hearts. Some of us write overtly Christian material, such as devotionals, theology books or Bible study materials, books on Christian living, memoirs that tell of what God has done in our lives or novels that share the message of God’s love. Others might not include overtly Christian material in their books, but they are still writing from a Christian worldview and infusing their books with godly values and perspectives.

But here’s a sobering thought. We can write the most magnificent prose, we can win prestigious awards, our books might be flying off the shelves, but readers aren’t just looking at our words. They’re looking at our lives. Do our words match the lives we are living?

It’s Not Me, It’s Them!

It’s easy to point the finger at Christians who haven’t measured up to our expectations. How could they do something like that? That would never happen to us.

But here’s the thing. They’re human and so are we. The Apostle Peter never dreamed that he would deny Christ until he did. Jesus is the only perfect person who has ever lived. All of us are sinners saved by grace, and we’ll continue to make mistakes (sometimes huge ones) while we’re on earth. But God still wants imperfect you and me to partner with Him in advancing His Kingdom. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19-20a:

‘God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.’

So how can we be intentional about living a life worthy of the gospel we are proclaiming?

 

Living as Christ’s Ambassadors

Who Gets the Glory?

Always remember that God is the one who has given us our gifts and talents. We can certainly hone those gifts and talents, but we can’t do anything for God’s Kingdom in our own strength. Are we pointing people to Christ or claiming the glory for ourselves?

Good Stewardship

God is the giver of gifts, and He wants us to be good stewards of the things He has given. Are we using our creative gifts for His glory? This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will write overtly Christian material, as some of us are called to have a voice in the mainstream marketplace. But whatever our calling, we should do a stocktake every now and then to see if we are making the best use of our gifts. 

Resisting the Enemy

Satan is not happy that any of us want to write for God’s glory. He’ll put obstacles in our way, he’ll put temptations across our paths and he’ll attack our efforts at every turn. We need not fear him, because Jesus has defeated him on the cross, but we do need to be aware of his schemes and resist him. Some of the following strategies can help in this regard.

Devotional Life

Are we spending regular time in God’s word and prayer? It’s hard, if not impossible, to minister to others if we’re not being nourished ourselves. God’s word is our life blood and prayer is our lifeline. Let’s never neglect these essential disciplines. The health of the words we write is intricately entwined with the health of our devotional lives.

Fellowship

Some people are involved in ministries that are run by particular churches or Christian organisations, but writers are sometimes seen as a separate category. Aren’t they just doing their own thing? While our writing may often be done alone, we still need to be connected to other Christians. As we’re reminded in Hebrews 10:24–25, ‘let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching’.

Accountability

Ministers and missionaries are usually accountable to a separate body such as a church board or missionary organisation. If we see our writing as a ministry, we should also take accountability seriously. Seek out trusted and godly friends or mentors with whom you can be honest. Share your triumphs and struggles with them. Ask them to pray for you and give them permission to ask the hard questions if they see you going off track. Don’t just ask people to pray for your upcoming book event, but also for your heart attitude and for those whom God will touch through your words.

Repentance and Forgiveness

When we do make mistakes, which we’ll inevitably do from time to time, keep short accounts with God. He has promised to forgive us when we genuinely repent of our actions. Depending on the circumstance, it may also be necessary to apologise to others we have wronged or make restitution in some way. 

Power of the Holy Spirit

Praise God that we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and we can draw on His insight, strength and power rather than our own. If God has called us to write for Him, He will empower us and partner with us to achieve His purposes. Let’s always rely on Him.

This is not an exhaustive list. What things help you to represent Christ through your writing? I’d love to hear your examples.

Credits

All scripture references are from the New International Version of the Bible.

Featured photo from Pexels on Pixabay.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine loves weaving words of faith, courage and hope. She has had more than 150 short pieces published, including fiction, memoir, devotions, and poetry. Her inspirational novel Scattered was a finalist in the 2021 CALEB Awards. Her devotional book Comfort Zone was published in 2025, with No Standing Zone to follow in 2026. She also loves helping other authors through The Write Flourish—a freelance writing and editing business she and her husband Tim have run since 2013.

Using Our Writing to Share God's Comfort

 

Many years ago, I did an 'Introduction to Biblical Counselling' course with Youth With a Mission (YWAM). The key verses for the course were 2 Corinthians 1:3–4. 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (NIV)

Notice how it says that God comforts us in all our troubles, but it doesn't stop there. We're then meant to take the comfort we've received and pass it on to others so that they too can know the Father of All Comfort. 

In that counselling course, we spent the first five weeks working on some of our own issues and receiving ministry. The next seven weeks were spent learning some basic counselling skills. 

Then we went on a two-month outreach to New Zealand, where we had the opportunity to apply what we'd learned.

We ran workshops at various churches, YWAM bases and a Christian healing centre; and participants also had the opportunity to make counselling appointments with team members. 

Even though we were still working through some issues ourselves, it was wonderful to be able to share with others what God had been doing in our lives.

There are many ways of passing God's blessings on to others. It could be through counselling, teaching, prayer ministry, hospitality, mercy ministries and a variety of other ways depending on the gifts and talents God has given us. However, writers are in a unique position to offer something of value.

It's probably safe to say that if you're reading this post, you've been through some difficult circumstances or challenges at some point in your life. 

Some people may have gone through major life upheavals, even tragedies. For others, it might be the day-to-day challenges that pop up along the way. 

But no matter what you've experienced, there will be people who need to hear how God has helped you along the way. 

Does that mean you have to have completely overcome all of your obstacles and have it all together before you can help anyone else? I think you can predict that my answer will be 'No'. We're all on a journey that isn't finished this side of heaven. If God has provided you with some comfort and encouragement, then you can share that with others, even if you're just a little bit ahead of them on the road.

And sharing God's message of comfort and encouragement isn't just something relegated to true stories, memoir, devotionals or teaching materials. If you write novels or short fiction, you can have one or more of your characters working through different issues and learning to trust God in the hard times as well as the good. If you write poetry, you can prompt people to think of questions and perspectives they may not have thought of before. While some of us might write specifically for the Christian market, some of these ideas can be addressed in any form of writing that is based on a Christian worldview. 

In a world where many are losing hope, we have a message of hope to share. Let's take the comfort we've received from God, and turn it into words and actions that will help heal a hurting world.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine loves weaving words of courage and hope. Her new book 'Comfort Zone' is a 40-day devotional on the Father of All Comfort. It is published by Armour Books and is currently available on Koorong and Amazon. She would love to connect with you through her author website at www.nolalorraine.com.au 

Photo Credits

Featured photo by Ben White on Unsplash, Rock climbing by Cocoparisienne on Pixabay,  Author photo by Wayne Logan from Encouraging Photos, other photos from the author's collection.

Ready, Willing and AGENCY

In my work with young people discussions have arisen over the years of the importance of empowerment to help create positive solutions for their future. Recently a useful tenet has been raised about the necessity of “agency” to be afforded to the young people we engage with. Giving agency means the instilling of hope and a sense of purpose, meaning and belonging in their worlds. Giving agency to the characters in our stories helps our narratives have a deeper meaning as well. 

Sociologists (1) suggest that people experience agency in the context of actions oriented to the past, future and the present. The ‘past’ or “iterational” aspect of agency refers to how a person can selectively reactivate actions based on understanding from actions and thoughts from the past. This may include how people have actions in response to typical situations that help them sustain their interactions, identities and institutions over time. An example of this in our storytelling may be how a character we have created may be able to face and resolve circumstances at the end of their character arc simply because they have experienced other similar situations earlier in their story. 

The ‘future’ or “projective” aspect includes how a person purposefully creates potential future. A character in our storytelling may dream, visualise, imagine, or self-talk about possible future trajectories of action connected to their fears, desires, and hope for the future.

The ‘present’ aspect of agency is the “practical-evaluative element”. It includes the capacity of people to make judgements and chose actions in response to a situation, demand or context. Characters we have developed need to be described with a reasonable ability to reason, have a will, and be shown to be able to function in the variable telling of their stories.

An example of agency from my work as a Chaplain helps explain this:

“James” was a student who was dropping out of school in year 10, experimenting with substance abuse, and had a horrific background.  In a letter at the end of his schooling he related how the first session of meeting with me as his chaplain was enough for him to put aside the plans he had made to seriously harm himself. How this happened was through him regaining a sense of agency (or Hope) in what seemed a hopeless situation. We talked about how little successes from his past could help his future. We talked about the things he could practically action. He also came to recognise that he had people supporting him and to simply be there for him.  James was not only helped though chaplaincy to get the support he needed he was empowered to help himself. James also joined a team helping other students and raised his own support to go on a Humanitarian project overseas helping others.

Empowering Agency in others changes the lives of those being supported, who in turn go on to help change the lives of others as well. A bit of a secret about empowering agency in my chaplaincy  interactions is that it is not about having to “fix” the students I work with, but it means I am there to simply be a role-model that asks good questions that empower the students to design solutions for themselves.  We do well to create the same type of environment and opportunities for our characters. For a student like James living without agency, your friends insist on you making bad decisions, the situation you are in seems hopeless, then you either cope or don't with the situation you've been put in. With agency, you get to work out what you want to do, then make a decision, then deal with the results of that decision. Agency linked with positive influences and empowerment helps design constructive futures. 

The very same thing that agency means in real life, should be afforded to characters in our stories. Giving a character the opportunity to make decisions about what happens to them, rather than imposing a set of circumstances upon them and forcing them to react. When you give a character 'agency' you are also instilling in them the power to fulfill their destiny. Agency is self-determination. Characters can be an 'agent' of their own will. Giving agency means making sure a character has the ability to make choices that drive the story. The options a character has will depend on their history, skills, background, experience, status, training, etc. which are all great options to help embellish a narrative and to  craft a deeper storyline. You want a character that can take action and not just be acted upon. Agency gives characters the ability to make choices. A character’s personality is revealed by their choices, not just by surface elements. What a character chooses when faced with a decision tells you who that character is. This is real, like life. It helps readers want to engage at a deeper level with a narrative. Agency also helps make it all flow. A story is more engaging, an adventure is more fun and a narrative more believable if the protagonist has options and reasons and the actions have consequences, and you help show all of this process.

A well-crafted story that gives agency to characters motivates the reader to lean in, read on and want more. It is engaging. More than this it could empower, equip, and get people mobilised. Agency turns your characters into ambassadors, it empowers protagonists to follow their dreams, sort out problems, and make a difference. A character who is relentless about getting it right, when everything else is not gives a sense of agency. Agency gives individuals in our narratives a will and a reason to want to leave a legacy.

All this ignites a mobilisation faithfulness in your readers, because it’s about inspiration, hope, meaning and purpose.

Are you ready and willing to give agency? Let me inspire you: Go and be an empowerer 😊

 References

(1)    Emirbayer, M. and Mische, A.  (1998). "What Is Agency?". American Journal of Sociology. 103 (4): 962–1023.

Soothing Raw Nerves

Earlier today my youngest boy decided he would attempt to ride my husband's bike; needless to say, things didn't work the way he planned and he ended up squished under several kilo's of bike frame, tyres and greasy chains.

I performed my motherly duties - cleaned the cuts, wiped away tears, soothed with ice cream and sprinkles - and carried on with the day's tasks. Before long he was giggling and laughing; that's when I noticed it. The second tooth along the bottom of his sweet little jaw-line was no longer cute and square-shaped, but had been broken, making it sharp and fang-like! As I made closer inspection of the injury I realised - due to the tiny red dot I could see in the centre - that the break had indeed exposed the tooth's nerve.

Thankfully for my little shark-boy it doesn't seem to be causing him any pain and can be treated with a simple dab of fluoride toothpaste; often this is not the case. Leaving raw nerves exposed can cause sudden flares of intense pain. We then start to avoid using the injured body part out of fear, becoming less able to function in the process. To become free of this cycle we need to treat the cause - the raw nerve.

And isn't this just so much like life? We decide to give something a try and it doesn't come off; buying a house, a career change, just getting through each day is a challenge for many of us. Quite often we end up like my boy, squashed under a mountain of hurt, rejection, failure and many other things; sometimes the crash is minor and we get up and brush ourselves off, but at other times it damages us and exposes a nerve or two. We begin to avoid the things that make us hurt; taking risks, daring to try again, anything that would bring on the pain.

I am convinced that God has more for us than a life lived cowering behind the raw nerves of our souls. And I believe that he will use us - unashamed Christians who write from the perspective that God loves each individual in this world - to share the very best balm of soul-healing to all who read our words.

We read in Proverbs 16:24,

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (NIV)

What an absolute blessing it is to be appointed a writer for God! And in a world that is full of lies, deception and false hope, his Word of truth is needed all the more. 

Be encouraged today as you write; trust that God will use the talents he has chosen to give to you to bring his supernatural healing to someone . . . somewhere . . . somehow.

Blessings,

Helen

Writing: A Ministry or a Business?

by Narelle Atkins

In recent weeks I’ve been thinking and praying about the direction of my writing journey and how I perceive my writing. I write in three different genres: nonfiction Bible studies, inspirational romance and sweet romance.

I definitely view my sweet romance writing as more of a business than a ministry. I’m seeking traditional publishing opportunities and I’m striving to write high quality stories that will appeal to a specific market. These stories have underlying Christian values and potentially a subtle spiritual theme because I’m writing from a Christian world view.

My inspirational romances have a stronger ministry focus. These stories are the ones that I feel have put on my heart for a reason and, like my sweet romance stories, I’ve sought out traditional publishing opportunities.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if we’re considering traditional publishing opportunities then we have no choice but to think about our writing as a business. Traditional publishers are bearing all the financial risk when they contract a book. The staff and owners of publishing companies need to sell books to pay for their salaries and feed their families. An author may not receive a new contract or the next book in their publishing deal may be cancelled if they have poor book sales. And the publisher will go out of business if they aren’t selling enough books to ensure their business is financially viable.

I know authors do struggle with all the marketing and promotion that is expected of them compared to the ‘old days’. The eBook revolution and the flood of cheap self-published books hitting the marketplace have changed the publishing landscape. Traditional publishers have lost some of their ability to dominate the market because the main book buying channel is no longer limited to print books sold either in a book store or online. Traditional publishers, large and small, have to work hard to get their books noticed by readers, and authors are expected to be partners in this endeavour.

In contrast, I perceive my Bible studies to be a ministry rather than a business. We set up the 30 Minute Bible Studies website six years ago and we provide free Bible study questions that we had previously written for our small group. This year the ‘ducks lined up’, so to speak, and we have added a blog to the website and started publishing eBook leader’s guides on Smashwords. Six years ago I had a vision to sell affordable leader’s guides in eBook format but the timing wasn’t right and the necessary resources didn’t exist.

We’re releasing an eBook per month and writing articles on the blog that relate to the Bible studies. I chose to self publish the leader’s guide precisely because our primary goal isn’t to sell bucket loads of eBooks. We hope to encourage people to join a group that studies the Bible and we provide free or affordable Bible study resources that they may find helpful. The leader’s guides are an optional extra that we are charging a small amount for to potentially compensate for the time and effort it takes to put together the information.

How do you perceive your writing? Is it a ministry or a business or both? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance. She resides in Canberra, Australia with her husband and children. She can also be found at the International Christian Fiction Writers blog.

Narelle is a co-founder of the 30 Minute Bible Studies website. She recently launched the new 30 Minute Bible Studies blog. To learn more about Narelle, please visit her website.