Daring Risk

Recently countless people around the world mourned the passing of Ravi Zacharias, Christian apologist and founder of RZIM. When I heard this news, I thought how much poorer humanity was for this loss. I was equally moved by the extraordinary legacy he left, fuelled by his heart to respectfully and compassionately seek out the questioner behind each question: helping the believer think and the thinker believe.

The start of his legacy can be traced to a step of faith and obedience when, as a seventeen-year-old, God met him on a bed of suicide. He vowed to leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of truth. In hindsight we see an extraordinary life, but as he began stepping out in the early years of his journey, I expect he faced many obstacles. His obedience to the call of God on his life may have been seen as risky, for the potential cost it could incur.

Photo Credit Elijah Hiett @elijahhiett- Unsplash

The more I reflect on this, it seems risk is often a companion of obedience, and obedience to God (with all its risks) a companion of legacy: Dare we trust His version of our lives over our own?

As Christian writers, our lives encompass much more than our writing journeys, but in the writing context I believe the coupling of risk and obedience can be evident as we dare to write truth in a culture that is aggressively post-truth.

Whatever genre, I suspect many of us can recall a moment we’ve felt the risk of writing what the Holy Spirit’s laid upon our hearts. It may not have been hot sweats and clammy palms (although it could have been that too), but I’m sure you’re familiar with that tussle of “dare I?”.

It could be an open reference to faith in your general market novel. It could be cutting that risqué scene that would make your story “edgier”. It could be including those uncomfortable, gritty elements that honestly portray humanity at its lowest. It could be letting yourself be vulnerable enough to write about your own brokenness. It could be putting down the pen for a few hours on a tight schedule to remind a child they’re well loved. It could be writing into a new genre. It could be using the word sin to depict the flaw that runs through every human heart, for which the only cure is a Saviour who willingly gave all to rescue us from our sinful condition and recklessly pursues us with His love.

Each of our writing journeys are different, as are the wrestles we face. We can each write a legacy that touches a different part of our inherently broken world. Fact is, being counter-cultural is very risky, no matter how gracious you are (and gracious isn’t really my strongest point—working on it!).

The question is, dare we be obedient to penning words that make us tremble when they’re whispered into our heart from the ultimate Creator? What if those words risk public humiliation? What if they risk being misunderstood? What if they risk losing friends or being shunned by family? What if they risk losing possessions?

What might we risk by our obedience to His drawing?

Then again, what might the souls those words reach gain? Could they be words that point a searching heart towards truth?

Photo Credit - Ben White @benwhitephotography - Unsplash

Fact is, we all blow it and are all largely risk averse, but I am confident in the kindness and mercy of a God of second chances. I also believe each step of obedience to Him can write a lasting legacy. It may not seem much at the time. We may never know the impact of our written words. But who knows what legacy we’ll leave when we’ve passed from this life to eternity, if we but dare take a risk.

Adele Jones is a Queensland based, award winning author. She writes young adult and historical novels, poems, inspirational non-fiction and fiction short works, along with juggling family responsibilities and a ‘real job’ in the field of science. Her first YA novel Integrate was awarded the 2013 CALEB Prize for unpublished manuscript. Her writing explores issues of social justice, humanity, faith, natural beauty and meaning in life’s journey, and as a speaker she seeks present a practical and encouraging message by drawing on these themes. For more visit www.adelejonesauthor.com or contact@adelejonesauthor.com

CREATING CUTTING EDGE NARRATIVES. Shane Brigg

CREATING CUTTING EDGE NARRATIVES

Faith-full Writing from Liminal Living.

My friend recently received some very useful feedback regarding his manuscript from his publishers. They suggested that his narrative required a tweaking of character developments, dialogues, and even chapter formatting to make the story more urgent and flow faster for the reader. In short, to help make his novel even more impacting, he needed to make it ‘edgier’, even a little ‘unstable’. In a world that is apparently becoming increasingly more unstable by the day, it seems counter-intuitive to consider adopting a state of instability in our writing. However, I propose that this edginess is exactly what we are called to, and if embraced, would dynamically enhance our story telling and its Kingdom impact on peoples’ lives.

Studies of Life Science have discovered that when an individual/system is "in a state of equilibrium, it is less responsive to changes occurring around it. This places it at maximum risk" (Pascale, Milleman, Gioja . 2000 . p 6). Comfortability makes things weak. On the other hand 'The Edge' or "Sweet Spot" - described by Frost and Hirsch (2011 p.90) as 'Liminality' - is considered to be a state that is essential for health, growth and vital living. By extension then, a person who is not experiencing liminality is potentially not experiencing all that life has to offer. Liminality describes the lifestyle of committed followers of Christ who impact the world by their humble self-denial.

Consider the apostle Paul's experience of life that seems to presuppose a challenging liminal lifestyle ^[1].  Having lost his life for Jesus sake (Gal 6:14, Matt:16:25), Paul felt he had 'nothing to lose'. We do well to emulate him (1 Cor 4:16), and express this kind of abandon in our writing, in our stories, our characters, and even our dialogues. Consider also how Jesus’ love is best illustrated by his own sacrificial example (Phil 2:3. vv 6-11). This could mean we might need to be more willing to experience some pain [2] . 

• When did it last cost us something to produce our writing? 
• Are our characters a reflection of a comfortable life or ones that disturb preconceived ideas and the status quo?
• Is there an expression of self-denial (and love that gives all, rather than self-aggrandisement) being highlighted in how we write, what we write, why we write, who we write for, what we write about, the characters we design, the heart they express, the narrative we create, and the themes we design ?

This is not a call for recklessness, but faithfulness. There is an apparent safety in non-liminal living, but God often calls His people out of comfort zones to more fully express His heart.

This is what “stepping out in faith” means. Consider Peter, Joshua, Ruth, Esther and others throughout history that we recognise as faithful people. They took faith-filled risks. They are the characters of inspiration. They are life stories of raw challenge to our own lives. To emulate their faithful living just might help make us whole, and inspire others to live more wholly. Greene and Robinson (2008.p 196) explain it this way: "unless the church is equipping believers to embrace a life of self-denial that adopts the values of the Kingdom of God, and repents of self-orientation it is rendered ineffective".

My friend’s publisher’s advice that he make his novel ‘edgier’, and even a little ‘unstable’ is perhaps valuable advice for us as Christian writers too. 

When we express a faith-filled urgency, and self-denying creativity in our writing, a powerful Kingdom impact ensues     ...........................................      And great story telling happens.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frost, M., Hirsch, A. (2011) The Faith of Leap. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.

Greene, C., Robinson , M. (2008) Metavista : Bible, Church and Mission in an Age of Imagination. Carlisle UK : Paternoster.

Pascale, R., Milleman, M., Gioja, L. (2000) Surfing the Edge of Chaos: the Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business. New York: Three Rivers.

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[1] “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.........”

 (2 Corinthians 11:23-27, Acts 9:15-16)

[2] Learning to love means “putting oneself on the line and embracing risk, even likelihood of pain and suffering"(Frost & Hirsch. 2011. p.88-89). Our aim should not be to escape pain but to learn to embrace it to make it grow us. "To Love is to suffer... and that's probably why we don't do it well." (Frost & Hirsch. 2011. p.89). Growing brings pain.

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On the Edge. Shane Brigg overlooking Israel. 

Shane Brigg has a passion for mobilising young people to transform their world in Christ. This is evidenced by his nearly 30 years of Youth work including Chaplaincy in Schools, University ministry, developing youth networks, international leadership, and recently team pioneering a missional church community in a university. He is a trainer for Harvest Bible College, a Chaplain serving in 3 schools, and an innovative and adventurous disciple maker. He has a particular talent for story telling that engages young audiences and has several writing projects underway including a series of sci-fi-fantasy based teen novels that express the core theological and 'gutsy' principles of Ephesians. Shane is married with 2 young adult teen children. He loves being outdoors, engaging interculturally and expressing creative pursuits. 

https://www.facebook.com/shane.brigg.3

Risky Writing

By Charis Joy Jackson

Being creative is what I live for. Whether it’s writing, acting or making movies. I love it and I’m blessed to work in a film office where I get to do these things.

One of my responsibilities is to supervise the film interns in their writing. I give them feedback on their screenplays and over the last few months the feedback has been the same on every story. It got me thinking, these are important things for every writer to know so I thought I’d share them with you. It’s not an extensive list, but I think it will challenge more than just your writing.

1. Take a risk - Make it personal
 
    Christmas is only a few days away and every year I can't help but think of the risk Jesus took in coming to earth as a baby.  Talk about being vulnerable. We should be vulnerable too.

    Whether you are writing fiction, non-fiction or a screenplay make it personal. The more vulnerable you are in your writing the more appealing it is to read. It helps the characters you write to feel fleshed out and whole, less like two-dimensional pieces of cardboard. It adds complexity to your story and helps you find lots of little subplots to keep your reader engaged.

    If you’re writing a work of non-fiction don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself and share embarrassing stories. It allows your reader to be vulnerable too. It gives them that “Ha!-I-totally-do-that/ I-thought-I-was-the-only-one type of moment. Your reader is more likely to want to hear what you have to say because who wants to listen to a know it all who never does anything wrong!?

2. Take a death-defying jump - Bring something new

    Every single one of us is unique. No fingerprint or snowflake is the same and no writer is the same.

    No one can tell a story like you.

    Working with Youth With a Mission I get asked to teach on different schools and topics. One topic was Intercession - the act of standing in the gap through prayer. I really didn’t want to study more into the topic. Intercession often seems stale and boring, sitting for long hours in a stuffy room while people repeat the same prayer over and over again. When I sat down to prepare my teaching I knew I had to change my perspective and this question popped into my head, “Why was I asked to speak about this and not someone else? What unique way do I view the world?”

     I speak through stories and symbolism.

    Thus began a long search for how I could show the exciting and even a little frightening side of intercession. In the end I showed the class a short video of a waterfall in Africa where people go to jump into the flowing water right at the edge of the falls. The place is called the Devil's Pool. It’s totally a death-defying experience. The current is strong and if you aren’t careful you will fall over the edge, but under the water there is a ridge that acts like a railing of rock to keep everyone safe inside the pool. The wall of rock literally stands in the gap. Just like we do when we intercede.

     This waterfall analogy is an example of how each of us adds something different to story as well. We could all sit down and write the story of Cinderella and on the surface they’d all be the same "waterfall". Yet in the details (under the water), my version would look different to yours, just as yours would look different to another author.

    My point of this list?

   The best way to be brave in your writing is to be brave in life.

   Take more risks, it kills fear. I’m always afraid I’ll get my characters stuck in a situation I won’t know how to write them out of, but when I’m brave enough to take those risks, I find my story is actually more appealing.

   What are some risky tips you’ve used to help your readers engage more in your work?

~

Charis Joy Jackson is working as a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) a non-profit organization & is part of The Initiative Production Company. She loves creating stories & is currently writing a novel, which she hopes to create into a seven part series. 

Here's to a life lived in awe & wonder. 
Welcome to the adventure.

www.charisjoyjackson.com