The best example Christians have of ministry is Jesus' ministry.
Who was Jesus, and how did he minister?
Jesus’ ministry flowed out of his identity. Jesus was God’s son, whom God loved. After Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove and a voice spoke from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).
Jesus was the promised messiah, or “anointed one,” heir to the throne of King David and long-expected savior of God’s people. The early Christian writers frequently showed how Jesus’ life, death and resurrection fulfilled the Hebrew scriptures, which they believed point to a person sent by God, through whom the Hebrews and the whole world would receive blessing, healing and peace; in a word, shalom.
Jesus’ ministry embodied this shalom. He taught us how to love God with all our mind, heart, soul and strength and how to love our neighbors, even our enemies, as ourselves. His miracles gave wholeness to people who were physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially disabled. His words and deeds proclaimed the coming kingdom of God – a reign of justice and righteousness, in which God’s will is done, and in which people relate to one another in love and truth.
Jesus’ ministry spurred friction, and a collaboration of religious leaders, Roman authorities and one of Jesus’ closest friends plotted his crucifixion. But even this fulfilled the scriptures. Christians understand Jesus’ death to atone for humanity’s sins, reconciling us with God once and for all. Jesus also reconciles us with other people; all who confess Jesus as Lord are adopted into God’s family, making us siblings of one another.
Further, God raised Jesus from the dead, making him the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), the leader of many to follow in his resurrected life.
After ascending into heaven, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to his disciples, accompanying and empowering them to be his witnesses throughout the world, and to be faithful citizens of God's kingdom. The following was his commission to them: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).
As far as we know, Jesus did not write as a form of ministry. But we wouldn’t know much about Jesus if the evangelists hadn’t written about him. And if we are to write as a form of Christian ministry, Jesus must be our inspiration.
Writing as ministry witnesses to Jesus: to his presence and work in the world today through his church and Spirit, to the good news that we receive eternal life and reconciliation with God through Jesus’ death and resurrection, to signs of the coming kingdom of God, to the shalom that Christ brings.
I work for a Christian charity called International China Concern, which partners with carers in China to give love and therapy to children who have disabilities and who have formerly been abandoned. I write updates about the children to their sponsors in various countries. I understand this to be a form of ministry because it connects the children with people who care for them, communicating the children’s needs and development. My writing establishes relationships and furthers ongoing support for the children. It also witnesses to their transformation as a result of the work of the caregivers, volunteers who serve them in the name of Christ and many others.
Beyond witnessing, writing as ministry can teach people the way of Christ, building people into Christian maturity, as the author of Ephesians encourages ministers to do (4:7-16).
But why writing? Couldn’t all of the above be done through the spoken word? What is writing’s contribution to ministry? These questions deserve attention, but as we are coming to the end of this post, I will simply say that writing is one of many forms of communication that comes with both unique gifts and limitations. God has used the written word to speak to people throughout history, and I believe God continues to do so today, connecting people across vast distances in space and time.
Jesus is our best example of a minister, and the Bible is our best example of writing as ministry.
The Bible employs a variety of genres, from plain writing (for example, epistles and chronologies) to poetry (the Psalms) to fiction (Jesus’ parables) to creative non-fiction and memoir (prophetic visions, like those of Ezekiel) and more.
Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (3:16-17). This is also a helpful description of writing as ministry.
11.4.17
Woodlands (poem)
I’ve never felt like this before. The trails
all lie around me, and I can choose the way
to go. So I will learn where this path leads:
uphill and hidden between the trees, which rustle
like traffic – no, like streams – when the wind is blowing,
above green shadows and jagged steps of slate,
through stony walls and sunlight. The slope descends
and I look out on fields of fog and snow
where, below, I will wade through pools as high as my knees
or higher. Where will I go? Where am I now?
But I don’t have to know, and that’s just why
I am not lost: Everything here is found.
Written for the Rusland Spring Show
Dedicated to my brother Jon
all lie around me, and I can choose the way
to go. So I will learn where this path leads:
uphill and hidden between the trees, which rustle
like traffic – no, like streams – when the wind is blowing,
above green shadows and jagged steps of slate,
through stony walls and sunlight. The slope descends
and I look out on fields of fog and snow
where, below, I will wade through pools as high as my knees
or higher. Where will I go? Where am I now?
But I don’t have to know, and that’s just why
I am not lost: Everything here is found.
Written for the Rusland Spring Show
Dedicated to my brother Jon
 |
| Rusland Church (2018) |
9.4.17
Writing and ministry: Literary writing and the truth
This post continues my exploration of the question “How is
writing a form of ministry?” First I divided writing into two groups, plain
writing and literary writing, and then I defined plain writing. In this post, I
outline literary writing.
Whereas plain writing directly communicates a message, using literary devices to some degree and primarily in service to the message, literary writing pays special attention to the form of the expression, relying more heavily on literary devices, which are inseparable from the content.
Literature usually finds expression in fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction/memoir. Fiction focuses on narration, description, plot, characters and action, and how these elements influence one another. Poetry, as poet Scott Cairns has argued, focuses on language itself: how the words react with one another, creating an experience that can be told only through the specific arrangement of the words in the poem. If one word were changed, the whole experience of the poem would change. These genres often blend together; fiction can be poetic and poetry can be fictional.
One can sometimes sense an underlying message or theme in fiction and poetry, but if one were to translate it into plain writing, something would be missing, like trying to explain a joke to someone who doesn’t get it right away. Writers often write literarily because plain writing doesn’t do justice to what they need to say; the subject matter is beyond words, and the best language they can find is symbolic, metaphorical.
Creative non-fiction and memoir employ elements of fiction and poetry to tell a true story. But the phrase “true story” can be misleading; a fiction story can be truthful, even if it hasn’t occurred outside of our imaginations. Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.” Adapting this, my fiction professor in university once wrote, “Fiction is a lie which tells the Truth.” This kind of truth is an emotional, experiential truth; it is wisdom.
Most importantly, Christians live by the revelation that the truth is a person: Jesus Christ.
In his introduction to The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan defends his writing an allegory to illustrate spiritual truths. At the end, he invites the reader to “lay my book, thy head, and heart together.” Literary writing unites the intellect with emotions, activating the imagination to give readers more than an idea but an experience of the truth.
Insofar as they witness to the truth, plain and literary writing are both forms of testimony. This begins to answer our original question. Insofar as writing finds its source and direction in Jesus, the Word of God made flesh (John 1) and who is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), writing is a form of ministry.
Before looking more specifically at how writing can minister to people, it would be useful to explore the meaning of ministry, which is where I turn next.
Whereas plain writing directly communicates a message, using literary devices to some degree and primarily in service to the message, literary writing pays special attention to the form of the expression, relying more heavily on literary devices, which are inseparable from the content.
Literature usually finds expression in fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction/memoir. Fiction focuses on narration, description, plot, characters and action, and how these elements influence one another. Poetry, as poet Scott Cairns has argued, focuses on language itself: how the words react with one another, creating an experience that can be told only through the specific arrangement of the words in the poem. If one word were changed, the whole experience of the poem would change. These genres often blend together; fiction can be poetic and poetry can be fictional.
One can sometimes sense an underlying message or theme in fiction and poetry, but if one were to translate it into plain writing, something would be missing, like trying to explain a joke to someone who doesn’t get it right away. Writers often write literarily because plain writing doesn’t do justice to what they need to say; the subject matter is beyond words, and the best language they can find is symbolic, metaphorical.
Creative non-fiction and memoir employ elements of fiction and poetry to tell a true story. But the phrase “true story” can be misleading; a fiction story can be truthful, even if it hasn’t occurred outside of our imaginations. Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.” Adapting this, my fiction professor in university once wrote, “Fiction is a lie which tells the Truth.” This kind of truth is an emotional, experiential truth; it is wisdom.
Most importantly, Christians live by the revelation that the truth is a person: Jesus Christ.
In his introduction to The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan defends his writing an allegory to illustrate spiritual truths. At the end, he invites the reader to “lay my book, thy head, and heart together.” Literary writing unites the intellect with emotions, activating the imagination to give readers more than an idea but an experience of the truth.
Insofar as they witness to the truth, plain and literary writing are both forms of testimony. This begins to answer our original question. Insofar as writing finds its source and direction in Jesus, the Word of God made flesh (John 1) and who is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), writing is a form of ministry.
Before looking more specifically at how writing can minister to people, it would be useful to explore the meaning of ministry, which is where I turn next.
5.4.17
Writing and ministry: Plain writing and testimony
How is writing a form of ministry?
This question has accompanied me since I first heard that writing can be, for some, a vocation, a calling.
It seems reasonable to begin answering this question by defining writing and ministry separately before looking at the relationship between the two. Over the next two blog posts, I aim to outline writing, distinguishing between literary writing and what I call plain writing and testimony.
So: plain writing and testimony. In plain writing, the goal is to communicate an idea to the reader or readers as directly and effectively as possible, which the writer can best do through clear and concise language. For example, in this post I attempt to write plainly. I may use some literary devices such as metaphor or allusion, but the purpose of doing so is to help illustrate my point.
Academic essays are written plainly. One might expect them to be not plain at all, but complex and difficult to understand, but that’s likely because the writer communicates poorly or because the essay is intended for an audience of which the reader is not a part, as in the case of papers published in scientific journals which use specialized vocabulary and equations. Essays, like other forms of plain writing, are functional, practical, direct communication between writer and reader. Other examples of plain writing include emails, newspaper articles and lists.
One genre within the category of plain writing is testimony. When someone testifies, whether through speech or writing, they tell their story truthfully; they tell the truth, usually in the form of a story—perhaps how they discovered the love of God for them in Jesus, or how they witnessed something tragic or wonderful. Again, while their story may have elements of creative non-fiction or may resemble a memoir, the purpose of it all is to faithfully tell what happened to them, what they experienced. This is best done with plain language. If their communication in any way hinders this, then they have not effectively testified.
For examples of plain writing as forms of ministry, we have the epistles such as the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. More recently, Christian authors who have argued and expressed in this style include Henri Nouwen and Eugene Peterson.
For an example of testimony as a form of ministry, we have the Gospel of John—not an autobiography, but a witness to Jesus’ ministry and identity as the Son of God, the Anointed One, who “takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Saint Augustine’s Confessions can also be considered testimony. While offered in prayer, they narrate the author's spiritual journey to God. Other examples include The Journal of John Woolman and Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain.
Now that I have (briefly) defined plain writing and testimony, establishing them as potential forms of ministry, what needs explaining is how they can minister to people. But before that, we must move onto the subject of my next post: literary writing.
This question has accompanied me since I first heard that writing can be, for some, a vocation, a calling.
It seems reasonable to begin answering this question by defining writing and ministry separately before looking at the relationship between the two. Over the next two blog posts, I aim to outline writing, distinguishing between literary writing and what I call plain writing and testimony.
So: plain writing and testimony. In plain writing, the goal is to communicate an idea to the reader or readers as directly and effectively as possible, which the writer can best do through clear and concise language. For example, in this post I attempt to write plainly. I may use some literary devices such as metaphor or allusion, but the purpose of doing so is to help illustrate my point.
Academic essays are written plainly. One might expect them to be not plain at all, but complex and difficult to understand, but that’s likely because the writer communicates poorly or because the essay is intended for an audience of which the reader is not a part, as in the case of papers published in scientific journals which use specialized vocabulary and equations. Essays, like other forms of plain writing, are functional, practical, direct communication between writer and reader. Other examples of plain writing include emails, newspaper articles and lists.
One genre within the category of plain writing is testimony. When someone testifies, whether through speech or writing, they tell their story truthfully; they tell the truth, usually in the form of a story—perhaps how they discovered the love of God for them in Jesus, or how they witnessed something tragic or wonderful. Again, while their story may have elements of creative non-fiction or may resemble a memoir, the purpose of it all is to faithfully tell what happened to them, what they experienced. This is best done with plain language. If their communication in any way hinders this, then they have not effectively testified.
For examples of plain writing as forms of ministry, we have the epistles such as the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. More recently, Christian authors who have argued and expressed in this style include Henri Nouwen and Eugene Peterson.
For an example of testimony as a form of ministry, we have the Gospel of John—not an autobiography, but a witness to Jesus’ ministry and identity as the Son of God, the Anointed One, who “takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Saint Augustine’s Confessions can also be considered testimony. While offered in prayer, they narrate the author's spiritual journey to God. Other examples include The Journal of John Woolman and Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain.
Now that I have (briefly) defined plain writing and testimony, establishing them as potential forms of ministry, what needs explaining is how they can minister to people. But before that, we must move onto the subject of my next post: literary writing.
25.1.17
New album
Towards the end of my season on Iona, I recorded thirteen songs and guitar pieces into an album called I Believe We'll See the Sky. I'll be selling it in the Iona Community Shop. Many of the songs are inspired by biblical characters, and some by the landscape and people I have met on Iona.
If you are interested in buying a copy, you can email me or post a comment with your email address. You can also hear previous versions of some of the songs on my SoundCloud page.
Thank you to my family and friends for their support and encouragement over the years!
- Paps of Jura
- Fishers
- Song of the Vine
- A Visit
- And It Rained
- The Trees Are Yellow Like the Sun
- An Upside-down "i"
- Now Your Love Satisfies Me
- The Whole Earth Is Filled with God's Glory
- Cul Shuna
- Resting
- I Believe We'll See the Sky
- The Rising Sun
If you are interested in buying a copy, you can email me or post a comment with your email address. You can also hear previous versions of some of the songs on my SoundCloud page.
Thank you to my family and friends for their support and encouragement over the years!
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