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.