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.

Writing is Worship

 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

 (Colossians 3:23-24)

The blog you have at hand is a revelatory (perhaps radical) premise based on the thoughts of this passage and my recent deep dive into what it looks like to live a creative life as a writer (Especially as one who is trying to find time for my craft during often very pressing regular work responsibilities). This blog also goes to the heart of having a correct understanding of worship.

Have you ever considered that your writing is worship?

We give lip service and knowing nods to the idea that worship happens not only through events at church on a day a week, such as singing, praying and listening to preaching, but also through a lifestyle of worship all week. Yes worship is expressed in songs of praise (the Psalms attest to this), but it is much more than this.  The song Heart of Worship by Matt Redman catches this idea in its lyrics:

“ When the music fades, All is stripped away, And I simply come

Longin' just to bring, Something that's of worth, That will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song , For a song in itself,   Is not what You have required”

I have mused for a while that this song is a semantic oxymoron because it is itself a self-contradiction : It is song.    :) 

Yet, worship is more than our songs, or music, or church services. Worship is our lives in dedication to God. Our creativity and creative energy given in adoration to The Creator is the essence of worship.

In early chapters of Genesis, “worship” (the way we usually relate to it) was not mentioned. Adam and Eve expressed worship through their nurture, care, stewardship, and creative labour (work). In fact, labour (service/work) is so synonymous to worship that the Hebrew word “avodah” is used for work, serving and worship. To worship is to work, to work is to serve is to worship.

Here is the entry from a noted Hebrew lexicon:

עָבַד 

(ʿā·ḇǎḏ): v.; … work, labor, do, i.e., expend considerable energy and intensity in a task or function … give considerable energy and intensity to give aid to another (Lev 25:46; 2Sa 16:19); … worship, serve, minister, work in ministry, i.e., give energy and devotion to God or a god, including ceremonies (Ex 23:24, 25); cultivate, plow, i.e., work soil (with or without an animal) as part of the agricultural process (Ge 4:2; Isa 30:24); plowed, be cultivated (Dt 21:4; Ecc 5:8; Eze 36:9, 34)[1]

Take note of the diverse spectrum of meaning of avodah as highlighted. The Ancient Hebrews had a deep understanding of how faith and work came together in their lives. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that they used the same word for work and worship.

The various usages of this Hebrew word as found first in Genesis 2:15 informs us that God’s original design and desire is that our work and our worship would be a seamless way of living. 

 Avodah is used 289 times in the Old Testament and is translated variously as “worship,” serve” and “work.” In some verses the word avodah is translated as work, as in to work in the field and to do common labour.

Moses, renewing the covenant with God, says: 

“Six days you shall work (avodah).” – Exodus 34:21

“Then man goes out to his work (avodah), to his labour until evening.” – Psalm 104:23

In other verses, avodah  is translated as worship, as in to worship God.

“This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me.” – Exodus 8:1

“But as for me and my household, we will serve (avodah) the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15

Joshua says, I will avodah. I will work for, and worship, the Lord.

This is a powerful image to think that the word for working in the fields is the same word used for worshiping God.

Avodah is a picture of an integrated faith. A life where work and worship come from the same root. The same foundation. Avodah reveals that the nature of the Hebrew mind is wholistic, integrative and comprehensive. There is no sacred-secular dichotomy.

Avodah means to Live a Seamless Life of Work, Worship, and Service.

Avodah implies a duality of purpose. In all work, there is an element of worship and service. Worship is about service. Worship takes the form of service and service expresses worship.

Avodah reveals that our labour can be a form of worship. 

Avodah encourages us that our writing can be worship. 

Historian Thomas Carlyle puts it simply:

“Laborare est Orare, Work is worship … All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but hand-labour, there is something of divines … No man has work, or can work, except religiously ….”

For the Hebrew mind, there is no separation of labour from worship. Worship is not only for Sunday, but for Monday as well. Worship is not limited to a religious meeting in a building or for a public evangelistic effort. Worship is to take place in the midst of our everyday lives, in our homes, in the office, in the factory. The God of the Bible is not a part-time God. Our worship should not be thought of as part-time praise.

So again, our work and service ought to be an act of worship. In other words, whatever we do ought to be focused outside of us, placing worth and value on others and something greater than us. We have this principle of “work-ship” established from the beginning of time.

Our work-ship as writers is to honour Him in our craft.

We could also say that worship, at its core, is an act of governance. Like Adam and Eve it is a creative stewardship of creation and our gifts, talents and skills brought to bear on creation in honour of The Creator.

God placed us here to glorify him by governing in His stead. To that end, we are to labor, serve and worship seamlessly ( avodah!)

Dr Christian Overman the founding director of Worldview Matters states that:

“Work, at its core, is an act of governance.

Governance over wood, metal, cows, cotton, and carrots.

Governance over sound waves, electrical currents, and wind.

Governance over computer keyboards, fiber optics, and digital images.

Governance over people. Governance over things. Governance over ideas.”

Bringing order out of chaos as co-labourers and stewards we take the raw materials of the earth and develop them for God’s glory and the benefit of others.

Builders take sand and cement and use them to create buildings.

 Lawyers take principles of justice and codify them into laws that benefit society.

Writers take the raw materials of words, grammar and ideas and arrange them into literary art.

In the New Testament this tenet that what we do (work) is worship is borne out in Colossians 3:23-24 (seen above).

When it says 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord"  

It is saying  that whatever you do in dedication to God is Worship. 

This is not just a reference to those who work in ministry or at church, it is referring to anything and everything that occupies our time and energy, thus the synonym for work, “occupation.”

Whether you are a judge, waiter, accountant, teacher, healthcare worker, stay-at-home parent, or a writer….

In all that you put your heart and hand to, God views it as worship that we should carry out with reverence and rejoicing.

Perhaps in your writing you have encountered an almost divine satisfaction like you are doing what you were born to do! 

Because what you do in your writing is a creative outlet that in essence you were designed to honour God with. 

Your writing work and vocation can be a worshipful act.  The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “voca,” which means “to call.” It’s how God designed you and called you to serve in the world.

There are two Old Testament figures in Exodus 31, Bezalel and Oholiab, whom Moses says were filled with the Spirit. How did they express that? By being expert craftsmen. Their expression of being filled with the Spirit and worshipping God was doing excellent creative work.

 It reminds me of a scene in Chariots of Fire, where  Eric Liddell, in his preparation for the 1924 Olympics, is confronted by his sister who thinks he should be a missionary to China. Liddell responds, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”

Many writers feel that. They are doing something they love and feel like,

 “This is what I was made for.” 

When I do it, I feel God’s pleasure. It’s like I feel, even, the Spirit of God at work in me in this.

 This is key: as we do this, in a way, God is himself at work creating through us.

The scripture in Colossians encourages us that whatever we do can be (should be) for Jesus. In essence an act of worship to Him.

In the original Greek language of the above scripture

“Whatever you do” is poieó

It means produce, construct, form, fashion make, manufacture, construct, (create)

As a writer what are you producing/creating?

“work at it with all your heart” is ergazomai

It means work, trade, perform, do, practice, commit, acquire by labor.

As a writer your work is writing and your work is worship.

Do you believe that your writing (as creative work), is worship? is a calling?

 

Consider the above scripture paraphrased in the context of your writing :

"Whatever you write, write with all your heart, as writing for the Lord”

Write from the empowered position that your writing is worship.

Shane Brigg

Talents? What talents?

Image courtesy of fantasista/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with money and am not a subscriber to the prosperity gospel, which has gained significant momentum during the past decade or two. It seems to me that prosperity teachings often place too much emphasis on financial gain for its adherents, instead of giving the glory, and the gain, to God.

Motivation is the lynch pin. If we’re motivated by God’s promptings and our love for our Lord, then any gains that ensue, whether personal or generalized to the community, are pleasing to our Father. I highly suspect that He is further pleased if those gains are in our spiritual development.

If, however, we’re motivated by personal gain – the almighty dollar, status and/or power, for instance – God sees our heart and grieves. God has never been pleased with avarice.
Prosperity gospels take this avarice one step further, however, by using prayer and scripture as a kind of magic. Words can be manipulated into ‘spells’ with relative ease.

And hence my uneasy relationship with money.

In more recent years, though, I’ve noted that not all devoted and genuine Christians hover as closely to the poverty line as I have always done. At first, I thought God had simply chosen to bless them in this manner more than He has blessed me…and I’ve been okay with that. The wind blows where it will, after all. (Alright, let me be perfectly frank, there have been a few times when I’ve pitched headlong into a full-blown pity-party, at least for a few minutes, but I do try awfully hard to snap out of it.)

After a fortuitous conversation with a beautiful Christian woman several weeks ago, it dawned on me that I’ve been missing something vitally important all these years. And it all boils down to a deeper understanding of scripture, specifically, the Parable of the Talents.
The Parable of the Talents, as many of you will recall, appears twice in the synoptic gospels of the New Testament. (Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27)

In both Matthew and Luke, a master puts three of his servants in charge of his finances while he travels further afield. To each he gives a specific amount without any instruction about how to handle it.

‘To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another, one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.’     Matthew 25

(Note: As it happens, a ‘talent’ is worth a great deal of money in today’s terms – according to my research it’s equal to approximately 1.5million US dollars!)

When the master returns home he asks each of his servants what they’ve done with the money he entrusted to them. It’s clear he expected some profit from the servants’ stewardship and he compensates them accordingly. To the two servants who doubled their profits, he gives rich reward but to the servant who played it safe and made no attempt to grow his riches, he meters out a negative compensation.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/gameanna

As with all the parables, Jesus is attempting to teach us a spiritual truth here and it’s definitely not just about money. Everything we have comes from God, be it dollars in the bank, our homes and possessions, our talent for writing (or painting, or woodwork or cooking – the list is endless), or our spiritual gifts. And our Master is waiting patiently for us to make the most of what we have; not to merely hoard it and look after it, but to use it wisely and watch it grow. For HIM.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/nalinratphi

 

We’re writers, you and I, and I’ve come rather late to the party in that I’m only just realizing that God wants me to step up, to take a few risks, to get out there amongst it and get some books happening! In other words, I need to be head down and tail up as often as time permits. No more procrastination. No more false humility. No more finding a myriad more chores that need to be attended to first.

Many of you are already accomplished writers and continue to be an ever-present source of inspiration and encouragement. Your words have fed my soul. I’ve been given much, it seems, and it’s about time I gave God some return on His investment.

Hmmm…it’s been a sobering realization and also a precious one. (And while I think of it, it’s probably also a good time to refinance that mortgage of mine!)

Melinda Jensen blogs extensively on emotional and psychological abuse and is currently enjoying a sea change from writing fiction to writing non-fiction, self-development books. Who'd have thought? A keen student of human nature, she's had articles, short stories and poetry published in a variety of magazines, newspapers and journals, having juggled single-motherhood and chronic illness for about 24 years. She's still almost sane and definitely has a heart for God and a yearning to bring a couple of books to fruition this year. Apart from that, she's besotted with cats, makes jolly good fudge and is desperately trying to keep her garden alive in the drought.