So, as we prepare another generation of writers, the PWID faculty members focus on two biblical principles that should shape the messages we send and how we send them. These principles formed the bulk of my answer to that student and his mother. Let me see if I can answer this young man’s question. WORDS MATTER Some of the most important words I ever heard came from my father in a conversation about making eggs. It’s not a dramatic story. It was midafternoon, just an hour or two after lunch, and I was starving. Most 12-year-olds can relate, but amid a growth spurt, I couldn’t get enough food. There was one problem: I had no desire to get off the couch and make something for myself. I could hear my father in the kitchen, putting dishes away and wiping off counters, the microwave, and the stovetop. Cleaning the kitchen was a big job at our house. My brother and I frequently had friends over and a whole mess of boys made for a whole mess of the kitchen. My dad had been working for a good half hour. I took a shot anyway. “Dad, will you make me some eggs?” He didn’t want to; I could tell by the look on his face. But without a word, he grabbed a spatula and pulled out an electric griddle, items he had just washed, dried, and put away. I leapt off the couch, guilt in my chest for even asking him. “You don’t have to do that,” I said. “I know you don’t want to.” He paused for a second, hand on the refrigerator door, before looking right at me. “Son, sometimes we do things we don’t feel like doing for those we love.” Those words coursed through my veins, made my fingers tingle. I’ve never forgotten them. Every time I read about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, or the Good Samaritan bandaging the wounds of a beaten man, I think of my father and those words. When selfishness seeps into my bloodstream, his words are an antibiotic that keeps the infection at bay. Words have power. They shape the way we think and feel about a topic and motivate us to action. That power is rooted in a God who created the world by speaking and gave us a book as His special revelation. In making us in His image, He imbued our words power, and even though we can’t speak the stars into existence, we can do a lot of good. And evil. That means Christian writers, including our students, have an enormous responsibility to steward their gift of writing well. Recognizing that power is an important step. Writing is fun, but inside and outside their careers, our students need to know they wield power in their pens and with it comes great responsibility. Knowing this is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is another. REPRESENT REALITY FULLY AND VIVIDLY God made us physical, emotional, and spiritual beings. That’s why He calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our writing must exhibit that entire reality. In class, I often use the example of writing for an antipoverty organization, like Compassion International. Part of the writer’s job in that role is to show poverty in a way that helps readers experience the reality, not only knowing facts about poverty but feeling the weight of it. As relatively affluent westerners, we don’t know what true poverty looks and feels like. Reading that a village does not have easy access to water is different than traveling alongside a family as they walk three miles to fill up their jars. The former addresses the mind; the latter touches both the mind and the emotions, maybe even the soul. This practice isn’t manipulative; instead, it gives readers a fuller and more vivid picture of a reality in which they have little context. In doing so, writers will encourage more people to invest time and resources to aid the orphan, the widow, and the sojourner. Hopefully, God will use it to draw those readers closer to Himself. Sadly, this practice of giving words life is lost among many writers today. Instead, they too often use language that dulls or re-shapes reality. Christians may immediately think of the terminology surrounding gender ideology, but this problem presents itself in more subtle ways as well. Outside of my job at Cedarville, I work as an editor for the Early Pregnancy Loss Association, a nonprofit that wants no family to suffer alone through the pain of miscarriage. We have an online publication where women and loved ones write about their experiences of losing children. The stories are devastating. Words have power. They shape the way we think and feel about a topic and motivate us to action. 20 | Cedarville Magazine
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