Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
A verse about which I got convicted about three years ago. Encourage… Build… Yet, too often, I have found that we do not do this. In particular it seems to be a problem in the writing community. Some people are quick to tear down other author’s books.
Yes, I’ve done it myself. Soandso is boring. This person is trite, that person just rips off secular plots… Mean, nasty and not at all building up the kingdom of God.
Most of us who rite Christian fiction consider it a ministry. So why do we publicly denounce the ministries of other writers? Does it enhance ours? I think on the contrary it does not.
If someone is preaching a false Gospel, yes, they should be called to answer for it. But just because someone writes a book in a style, theme, setting, etc. we don’t care for is no reason to publicly denounce that person’s ministry as awful. If you don’t like the way someone sets for the her message, then move on and find someone whose prose you do like. Tell a handful of friends if you must, and do not tear down the kingdom of God, let others see us as infighting and thus not a good witness for Christ, in a public forum
This is why I stopped writing reviews on this blog unless I really like the book.
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4 comments:
I so agree with you, Laurie Alice. Somewhere along the way (maybe it was the anonymity and accessibility of the internet) we quit adhering to that old advice "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
I'm in agreement, Laurie Alice. We have enough persecution from the outside world, we don't need it from our Christian brothers and sisters. I have yet to read a Christian book that I couldn't find something good in the story or writing. Why not focus on the good? Lift each other up as we are called to do? If a book has been published I think we can pretty safely say it has merit. This isn't an easy industry to break into. You're right we aren't all going to like the same things and that's a good thing. Diversity is what makes living so wonderful and not a cookie cutter life. So why do we think that everyone should write the same? The bible alone is a great example of that with forty different authors and style.
I'm with Debbie Lynne. There is something good to say about every book, and I try to focus on the good in every review. Thank God for many members all functioning together in the body of Christ. Thank God for many writers each telling story from different perspectives of the faith. Yes, let's continue to lift one another up and propel one another to good works.
I've read a few times that books are a ministry for the authors. That is so encouraging to me! I am torn too between the saying something good vs agreeing to disagree.
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