"Kind word for a writer" by Stephen M. Miller Bible blog of award-winning bestselling Christian author, Stephen M. Miller. for Tuesday, 12 January 2016
"Kind word for a writer" by Stephen M. Miller
THANKS FOR THE THANKS. Once in a while people who read my books send me a note to thank me for helping them get into the Bible. Just so you know, when that happens, it makes my day. Photo by Leland Francisco, flickr, CC2.I GOT A GREAT FACEBOOK MESSAGE recently. It made my day.
Here’s part of it:
Just wanted to say thank you for your books! I grew up in a cult-like church. We were taught that only the elders were allowed to interpret the Bible. Often the Bible was used to instill fear in the congregation.
I despised anything related to the Bible or any church. For years I strayed from God. It’s a long story but eventually I found myself at a great church! Though I have been going to church the past four years now, I avoided reading the Bible.
A friend gave me your book “A Complete Guide to the Bible” as a gift. My brother and I have been going through it together. Which is a big deal as he considers himself an atheist. Thank you again.
Oh my goodness.
This writer and her brother are the people I keep telling myself are out there and who want help getting into the Bible.
But I’m forever getting pressured to write to the sensibilities of longtime Christians. To not offend them. To not cover topics that are unsettling to them. To keep the questions about God and the Bible respectfully holy.
But people outside the faith or new to the faith approach the Bible with their own sensibilities. The topics they most want to read about are sometimes the most unsettling topics for longtime Christians. And the questions they ask would get some longtime Christians mad enough to cuss.
When I hear from Bible newbies who find my books helpful, it energizes me with the kind of “I told you so” that keeps me focused on helping them into the Bible.
When I keep that focus, I believe I’m helping most longtime Christians, too.
From what I can tell, most Christians aren’t particularly familiar with the Bible. It’s a sad observation I’ve made over the years.
So while I target Bible newbies, I’m also hitting the needs of an audience of readers much broader than I used to think was out there.
Whether I’m right or wrong about that, I think I’ll keep erring on the side of writing for people who don’t know much about the Bible, but who want to know.
For more about Christian writing
- What writers do when the book arrives
- Puzzled about how to spend my time
- Me: One writer’s to-do list
- Coffee with a writer? Nope
Recent Articles:
---------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment