by Maggie Wallem Rowe

Why are you reading this piece right now? What draws you to a site established by Christian writers? Don’t most of us hope to become published authors?

 Whether you’re an experienced, multi-published writer or just entering the industry, it’s important to periodically examine our motives for seeking publication.

It takes a serious investment of time, energy, and financial resources to fund a committed writing career. Given the fact that up to 80% of the titles entering the market never turn a profit, why do we do what we do?

If you’ve attended a Christian writers conference, you’ll almost certainly have heard a reference to C.S. Lewis’ oft-quoted statement: “The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature.”

The famous atheist-turned-Christian-apologist makes a valid point. The market is flooded with Christian books. Rather than being motivated by the desire for publication, perhaps we need to recalibrate our hearts to simply be obedient to our calling to write faithfully and with excellence whatever the outcome.

Here’s some encouragement from the gospel of Luke, one of the four scriptural biographies of Jesus.

Luke opens his letter with these words: “Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.”

 Many people wrote about the life of Christ, and those accounts may have strengthened the early church in a variety of ways. Only four gospel accounts made it into the authorized canon of scripture, though.  Likewise, you and I are part of many who are contributing Christian literature today, even though most of us will not see our books or articles continuing to be read and quoted in the decades to come.

We may not be inspired gospel writers, but we are inspired by the gospel to write.

In the fourth verse of Luke, the author establishes his credentials: “Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write…”

Be careful in your handling of scripture. Research your content carefully before you decide to write.

It’s vitally important that we are thorough in our personal study and research before we ever put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to communicate scriptural truths.

If you’re feeling called to write in the second half or even the final third of life, be encouraged by Luke’s account of God’s work in the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the future parents of John the Baptizer.

“They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old” (v. 7).

Despite a long life (and presumably a fair amount of trying), Zechariah and Elizabeth had produced no progeny, no one who would outlive them as evidence of their own lives on earth. Yet their age and Elizabeth’s inability to conceive was no barrier to what God intended to do.

“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son” (v. 13).

Whatever your age and current season of life, God will help you conceive life-giving words if that is his plan for you.

 “At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, ‘God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed’” (v. 41- 42).

The child in Elizabeth’s womb not only made his presence known, but Elizabeth was suddenly given the extraordinary gift of foreknowledge and prophecy over her young relative. She became the first to identify Mary as the mother of the coming Messiah.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the gift that Jesus promised us upon his departure, we too are empowered to do unprecedented things.

 And writing good literature is one of them.

 Maggie Wallem Rowe

Maggie Wallem Rowe is a national speaker, dramatist, and author whose first book, This Life We Share, was a finalist for the 2021 ECPA Christian Book Award in the New Author category. Maggie has also been a TEDx presenter. Her second book, Life is Sweet, Y’all: Wit and Wisdom with A Side of Sass, released from Tyndale House Publishers in 2022. Maggie writes weekly from Peace Ridge, her home in the mountains of North Carolina. MaggieRowe.com.