Warriors of the Written Word

The Importance of Art In Times of Trial, Part 2

I recently saw a film titled Letter To The American Church - something of a documentary that focused on the parallels between the behavior of German churches during Hitler's rule, and signs of the same in American churches today. I walked out of the theater feeling rather disturbed and, to be honest, a little fearful. I'm not a pastor, and I'm not a missionary in the traditional sense, so 'call to arms' films like this often make me more anxious than anything else. It's difficult sometimes to apply that call to arms in my ordinary, everyday situation.

But this time was different. The agitation was still there, but suddenly the vague point I've been trying to capture with this post became cut-diamond clear.

I'm a writer. I have the ability to use and manipulate words, a power that can affect a reader's mind and heart if used well.

I'm just a writer. Not a speaker, not a soldier, not an influencer, not a billionaire. Just a writer, quietly typing away with the hope that these words will mean something to someone.

Which means I'm doing what I was meant to do.

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Think about your target audience. Or your faithful online community. Or anyone you hope to reach with your words.

You may be the only person who can reach them at all.

Writers of fiction, fantasy, and anything labeled YA have a unique opportunity in the current market. If we were special agents with the CIA, we've already slipped past enemy lines undetected and we're walking around undercover, unquestioned. As young people are pushed to read more (or read of their own volition), they automatically reach for the books that look exciting, fast-paced, and maybe a little dangerous. (Fantasy, sci-fi, romance, forbidden romance, etc.)

What's more dangerous these days than standing firm on your convictions?

If all churches were forcibly shut down tomorrow (God forbid), young people would still be reading. The demand for fast-paced escapism is huge. And if the book in their hand holds words of life and hope, makes them seek answers to questions of faith, or draws them toward Christ in any way... Well, that's something only a Christian fiction writer can do.

That's something only you and I can do.

It's time for us to quit being 'nice'. Anyone can be 'nice'. We are called to be lighthouses, planted on solid rock, unshaken by the constant pounding of storms.

So write with a Biblical worldview. Write with a heavenly mindset. Take the risk and speak truth, knowing that not everyone is ready to hear it. Because if we don't, who will?

It is our Christian calling to spread the true gospel. Some are too afraid to. Some are waiting for the 'right' moment. Some just don't care.

Most of us aren't pastors. You probably haven't traveled overseas on a mission trip. We're just writers, you and I. Just quietly typing away.

We're not speakers, leaders, or billionaires. We're just writers. Christian writers. Able to go where some of our sisters and brothers in Christ cannot, dual-wielding the power of story and the Spirit.

That's all.

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But what if we didn't?

If creatives like you and me decided it was too much, it's not worth it, we're not making a difference anyway, and stopped doing what we do... Who would be left?

Corporations.

Governments.

Artificial intelligence.

There would still be art, there would still be stories, but they would be controlled, approved, and distributed solely by those who want to control us.

It's time to wake up and realize just what kind of world is being made for us. The final confrontation is coming. We can't afford to sit on the fence and wait for it to blow over.

So write. Tell your stories. You're doing exactly what God meant for you to do, in exactly the time and place He wants you in. Keep typing away, because sooner or later your words will reach someone. Whether they find truth and life is up to you.

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"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

It's not a question: We are here for such a time as this.

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Onward!

- Lydia