Missionary Writing: Truth Hidden in the Obvious

"The first step in missionary writing is to pray. That sounds obvious, but it is frequently overlooked in the headlong rush to write." - Jeff Calloway

 

That which seems like it should be obvious, often isn't. And, what is obvious to one person often isn't to the next. Sometimes, what was obvious to me yesterday is no longer obvious to me today. I'm not disagreeing with Jeff's statement above, but rather I'm saying it is sometimes O.k., even highly desirable, to state the obvious. Think about the person who talks about the elephant in the room. Sometimes talking about the things that are obvious (but that no one is talking about) can really loosen things up. Sometimes, like when you are working out a math "story problem", it is useful to just state what it is that you know you know. That's the way much of the book "Missionary Writing," by Jeff Calloway was to me: it has a lot of things in it that seem like maybe they should be obvious, but until someone points them out to you, you might not think of them.

Surprise!

I assumed when I got this book, that it would be about how to write home to friends, family and church members about what it is that you are doing while on your missionary trip. What are you learning about? What are you seeing the Lord do in his work among the people you are ministering to? That's about the only kind of thing I had been exposed to regarding missionary writing. But, that's not what Jeff had in mind at all. His book is about how to be a missionary through use of the written word! It is the complete opposite direction from what I had thought was the obvious direction for a book like this.

Although not what I expected, this book has been helpful to me in my quest to be a better writer in several ways. First, it is practical. This book is a how-to. It doesn't have a lot of flowery language or metaphors. It is a straight forward, easy to understand book on how to write as a missionary. Beyond that, though, it has advice that applies well to how to be a better writer in general. For example, it has a great section on seeing with fresh eyes. Although the words were about being a missionary to your readers, about showing people the Lord with your written words instead of just with your speech or your bodily presence, I kept seeing things that apply equally well to how to write a sermon or even how to write persuasive materials unrelated to Christianity. Also, it worked for me like a long set of writing prompts: it helped me look around and realize how many things around me were "obvious" (as in, right in front of me), but until one takes the time to deeply consider them, they are easy to overlook. Jeff has clearly spent a lot of time considering his subject. As someone who has lots of experience with missions and missionaries, the things he writes about are probably second nature to him, but he has the gift of writing it down in such a way that they seem like we should all have been doing it his way all along, because it is just "obviously" a really good way to do things. After having read Jeff's book, I see so many more things that I could write about than before having read it. He opened my eyes to vast quantities of material that are all around me (yet, I was having trouble seeing).

Seeing with New Eyes

I hope I’m not going on about this obviousness thing way too long, but it really is a big deal. To get an idea how big a deal this is, think about the areas of your life where you know a lot about a subject, but you've been using the things you know so much and for so long that you've forgotten that you ever learned them. The fact you are reading this means there is a VERY large number of these things that you know without knowing that you know them. Think of taking care of a baby. The baby doesn't know how to eat (at least not with fork and knife), or bathe itself, or walk, talk, or use a toilet. It can't dress itself. It can't do math or drive or pay bills. The list is almost endless, yet these are things that we, as adults, do almost without thinking. (Maybe we have to think about math and paying bills...maybe we have to think about those quite a bit, but you get the point. The baby can't do them at all and most of us can do them without a lot of help.) I loved this book partially because it tells us one thing after another that are foundational truths to the work of being a missionary. These truths are the things that allow a person to walk and talk like a missionary: ideas like chapter 4, "Understanding Those I Am Writing For". These truths are so foundational (like being able to walk and talk) that we can sometimes forget about them. And, these are things a newcomer to the field might not think to do the way the author suggests.

A Confession

Over the years, I've gotten better at writing. However, I still sometimes just run out of things to say. I also get tired of writing. Sometimes I'm frustrated by the lack of response my writing receives. In fact, I was recently so frustrated that I hadn't written anything substantial for this blog in months and also hadn't written anything for the Lord on twitter in a long time. But, a number of the books I've recently gotten from StoryCartel.com changed all that and Missionary Writing is one of them.

Other Content

Aside from the effect it has had on me, from a nuts and bolts perspective, you should know some of the breadth of content in this book. Aside from a section on "seeing with fresh eyes," it also has a great section on vision casting. That is, not on seeing the things around you in a new way, but rather the process of coming up with a vision for where you want to go with your writing. There’s a section on tools to use to help you with the process and the business end of your writing. To make any of the above things work, he starts with a section describing the subject of missionary writing (definitions, basis, mission, calling and some common roadblocks).

Summary

This short, but practical, book has a breadth of topics related to missionary writing. It opened my eyes to a wealth of ideas related to broadening the possibilities for things I could write about and I expect I’ll refer back to this little book over and over again when I need help with my writing. I found it useful and would recommend it to others writing with an intent to further Christ’s kingdom regardless of whether they are approaching believers or prospective converts.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, so I could make a few cents off it if you decide to buy through my links. If that bothers you, get it through Amazon without using my links. Either way is fine with me, as my goal is to see the kingdom of God advanced, and the more people who are looking for ways to do that the better off we’ll all be. God bless you in your efforts to do that! :-)

How Dracula Can Help your Preaching

Do you ever have to work at coming up with topics to preach on?  You may well not be a pastor, but you might still want to be able to share the gospel with people, (or maybe you just like vampires!) and if you have new ideas on how to do that, it will make it easier to keep engaging those around you. So, here’s a new idea for you: copy Dracula! (the book, not the villain) I know that sounds like an odd thing to recommend, but here’s what I mean. We all know that when we want to become better at something, one way to do that is to copy those who are the best at it. Bram Stoker’s book, Dracula, is one of the greatest horror stories we have.  On the one hand, the Bible tells us that “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Ti 1:7) So, I’m not trying to get you to be afraid. However, the Bible also tells us, “The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]…” (Psa 111:10)  The second part of Proverbs 1 is written as being from the voice of wisdom and ends with the words, “but whoever listens to me [wisdom] will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” So, it will be of great use to our audiences if we can bring them the fear of the Lord. I’m not saying that all our time should be spent trying to make people afraid. Rom 2:4 says, “…the goodness of God leads to repentance.” So, our preaching has to be balanced. But, people love to read about villains they love to hate, otherwise, Dracula would not have been so successful (as a book). So, how can Dracula be useful to us in our efforts to teach people the fear of the Lord? First of all, he sticks in your mind, as your words to people about the Lord should. Another thing about Dracula that makes him a great villain is that he is obviously bad. One of the biggest hurdles we face when trying to evangelize is that people don’t actually see sin as being bad. The book, Dracula, shows us how to make things that are bad appear as being bad. Jonathan Harker, the main character aside from Dracula himself, doesn’t really understand what Dracula is for the first several chapters. And yet, he is still subject to mounting fear. One of the biggest things that bothers him about his situation is the isolation. He is all alone in a castle where his only companion is his captor. Why is he all alone? Although I didn’t get this part from the book, sin and evil isolate us. Sin breaks our relationships with those around us and with God. Thus, it is natural that Dracula must be largely alone. That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed reading some ways that fiction can be used to strengthen our message about the most real subject there is: God.

Tell me what you think. I’d love to read your reactions to my ideas.

Winning the War

He was coming at me...with a sword, and not just any sword, but a sharpened, two edged sword. And, he was fast. But, no matter, I thought, because I'd studied Aikido, a Japanese martial art. I'd trained against attacks with (and without) weapons. I'd also studied western style fencing, and wrestling. I was well trained and agile with excellent balance. Although I had no weapons other than my hands, I was not afraid. In fact, I was even enjoying myself, and was proud of it. No matter which way my attacker sliced or stabbed at me, I just got out of the way. I could dodge the best offense he could muster: not a problem. I felt like I could go on like this for ever.

The problem was that my opponent was Jesus. And, even though it was like a game, after a time, I DID gradually begin to wear out. I was getting tired and slowing down. My opponent, however, was not slowing down or tiring out. I realized that regardless of how well trained I was, regardless of how fit I was or could have been, regardless of how clever I might be, Jesus was stronger, smarter and had greater endurance. God does not wear out. He doesn't need to sleep. He doesn't even get tired. So, how did I win?

Sometimes, if you lose one battle, it can cause you to win a war. And, if it does, isn't it worth it?

Additionally, over time, I figured out that Jesus wasn't trying to kill me. Yes, he was attacking me with a sword, but he kept going for my arms. He was trying to cut them off not because it would damage me, but to replace them. He wanted me to be able to use his arms and hands. The Bible says that we are to be Jesus' hands and feet and he wanted me to have hands and arms that would never wear out, that would never grow tired. If I could just give up my pride and stop trying to be clever; if I could just give in to Jesus and stop trying to be in control, then I could stop fighting with him as my opponent and start fighting with him as my strength and my deliverer. By using His body parts, I could run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. By giving up and letting Jesus win the battle, by letting Jesus have his way with my arms, I could just change sides! By surrendering to Jesus, we win in the end. After surrendering, I no longer had to fight alone, and with God on my side, I might not always FEEL like I could go on fighting forever, but it would still be true. And, it would be more true, in fact, than if I just FELT like I could go on forever. As Christians, we win in the end.

Why This Matters to YOU!

Are you fighting with Jesus, or against him? We are all engaged in a war. Are you sure you're on the right side? I had the above dream about 13 years ago, and I'm still finding ways to give up more of my life to him. And every time I do, my life gets better. What is there in your life that Jesus is trying replace with something better? All these years later, I've just recently started getting to the point where I can tell people about this dream. I had to give up a lot of my pride and fears. I had to keep letting Jesus give me more of himself so that I could learn to trust him enough to really tell people about him in a powerful way. What about you? What's your story? I'd like to hear it. Please leave a comment...whether you love or hate this post in terms of style or content, if you have questions or a link to your own blog with more details, it is all welcome. And, aside from how this post about my dream might affect you, is there someone else you could talk to about something supernatural in your life that might help them? I expect I'll post again on related topics, because they are important. Until then, keep thinking about these kinds of questions. Find ways to let Jesus win in your life. You'll be glad you did. Thanks.

I Said Something New

I said something new tonight. I often find myself saying the same things over and over again. Even though I like to think that what I tell people and what I ask people is spirit lead, people so often come up with the same comments, the same questions, week after week, my responses often end up being the same. But, tonight was different. I said something new, that I hadn't prepped for particularly and yet that I liked and I found effective. So, I thought I would share it with you here.

Someone new came by the street corner I usually go to in order to witness or do street preaching. We got to talking and when it seemed like we were running out of things to talk about regarding his questions or comments about the preaching, I told him something he wasn't expecting, but which made sense to him. People often say things like, "You can make the Bible say anything you want," but I don't believe that. Naturally, people can twist the scriptures; but we are all responsible for figuring out for ourselves what is true. None of us will be judged in the end based on what our pastors or other spiritual leaders believe. We are only going to be judged based on whether we did what we PERSONALLY knew to be right. I asked him if he reads the Bible on a regular basis. He said he does. I asked him how he reads it and I gave him some examples of different ways people might do that. He said he generally reads the things around what his pastor preached on the prior Sunday. So, I encouraged him to read the WHOLE Bible and ask himself two questions. First, what is the purpose of what he's reading? And second, what is he supposed to get out of what he's reading?

When we read the Bible, if we are to apply what we've read, we have to understand the context. One of the easiest ways to misinterpret the Bible is to pull something out of context. The thing that can be difficult is figuring out how NOT to pull things out of context! By that, I mean there are a lot of different ways to ask the two questions I posed to him. What's the purpose of the Bible as a whole? What's the purpose of the particular chapter I'm reading at any given time? What's the purpose of the book of the Bible that I happen to be reading? Those same variations on the question of the purpose of the material can be applied to "What am I supposed to get out of it?"

He had said that we were putting way too much emphasis on sin in our message. My response was, "If you haven't even read the whole Bible, how do you know what the proper emphasis should be?" More than 3/4 of the Bible is Old Testament, and yet more than a few people who call themselves Christians think it just doesn't even apply to them. All they pay attention to is the New Testament. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever. God doesn't change, and many people still throw out the Old Testament all together. Rather than thinking that the purpose of the Bible (as a whole) is to just show us how overwhelmingly in love with us God is, I believe that the main purpose of the Bible is to show us how important it is that we stay as far away from sin as we can. The Bible tells us how really bad sin is and that it is a large part of God's love for us that he showed us a way back to him in spite of how really bad we've been by sinning. Then, also, it shows us that we don't need to keep on living that way any more.

There were numerous other things that we discussed, but the upshot of the whole conversation was that he really appreciated me and my friends and what we were doing and he said he would start reading the Bible differently now. He told me he'd start studying it more and really start thinking about the big picture rather than just thinking about the content of his pastor's sermons.

I've started praying differently lately, too. These are the common elements I've generally started asking for prior to going out to preach or witness to people. I ask that God send people with open hearts, ears and eyes to see, hear and understand the truth. I also ask that he give me the right words to say to people at the right times and in the right ways to the right people. I've been finding that he's answering those prayers. As I see that he answers my prayers, I believe I'm praying with more confidence. And, over time, I'm seeing him answer those kinds of prayers more and more. I find it overwhelmingly worth while and exciting to see people willing to reconsider their lives and their walk with Christ and the things they believe about God and the Bible. I see these things just about every week.

God's word does not return unto him void, but accomplishes that for which He intended it. Praise be to God and God bless all of you in your efforts to serve him!