Has God Called Me to Write?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | In the last episode, you talked to writers,
00:00:07.340 | and I want you to talk to writers one more time.
00:00:10.560 | Talk to those of us who write
00:00:12.800 | or who aspire to serve the church as writers.
00:00:15.400 | Talk to us about calling.
00:00:17.700 | Most Christian writers, it seems,
00:00:19.660 | write to self-express,
00:00:22.380 | not from a conscious conviction
00:00:25.180 | that God has called them to write,
00:00:27.660 | and certainly not in a formal sense of calling
00:00:29.900 | to ministry like a pastor maybe has.
00:00:32.940 | So speak to writers.
00:00:34.140 | How would I know if God is calling me to this work?
00:00:38.120 | God's calling in the New Testament
00:00:42.580 | is mainly our calling out of darkness into light.
00:00:46.020 | You know that, everybody, I suppose.
00:00:48.460 | Well, lots of people know that.
00:00:50.580 | Our calling in conversion.
00:00:52.620 | So when we speak calling,
00:00:54.580 | that's the way the New Testament mainly talks about it.
00:00:57.620 | But it can also refer to our life work,
00:01:02.100 | like 1 Corinthians 7:15.
00:01:05.100 | When it does, it may mean the place God has put us
00:01:10.100 | whether we like it or not.
00:01:13.140 | In other words, it's not driven by our desires like slavery.
00:01:17.820 | Paul deals with that in 1 Corinthians 7.
00:01:20.700 | If you're stuck in the horrible position of slavery,
00:01:23.900 | that's your calling in the moment,
00:01:26.940 | whether you want it or not.
00:01:29.260 | It may also mean what you're able to choose,
00:01:32.740 | like freedom from slavery,
00:01:34.820 | which he also addresses in 1 Corinthians 7.
00:01:39.460 | So in that latter case,
00:01:41.700 | when we have some freedom to choose our life work,
00:01:46.540 | which most people in the world, by the way, do not have,
00:01:50.900 | and they still have a calling.
00:01:52.300 | I want to make sure I say that
00:01:53.540 | because I think sometimes we Westerners
00:01:55.600 | who have so much incredible options,
00:01:57.860 | like we're 15, we're dreaming about 10 things
00:02:00.460 | we might be when we grow up.
00:02:01.740 | Most people in the world do not have that kind of freedom,
00:02:05.100 | but they have a calling.
00:02:06.500 | Wherever they are, they can have a calling.
00:02:08.180 | However, I'm addressing us who have some measure of freedom
00:02:12.280 | in which we can discern among possibilities
00:02:15.580 | of things to do.
00:02:17.260 | And so my understanding of this kind of calling
00:02:20.100 | is that it's a work of God in our minds and hearts
00:02:25.140 | and abilities and relationships
00:02:27.180 | that results in a recurrent, not temporary,
00:02:32.180 | long-term, not short-lived,
00:02:35.980 | compelling, not merely interesting,
00:02:39.160 | benevolent, not selfish, Christ-exalting,
00:02:42.900 | not self-exalting, desire to write,
00:02:47.820 | which proves fruitful in the lives of others.
00:02:51.140 | Now, that's a long...
00:02:52.780 | That's my definition of a calling to write.
00:02:55.260 | I'll say it again.
00:02:56.100 | It is a recurrent, not temporary, long-term,
00:03:00.420 | not short-lived, compelling, not merely interesting,
00:03:03.760 | benevolent, not selfish, Christ-exalting,
00:03:05.940 | not self-exalting, desire to write,
00:03:09.060 | which proves fruitful in the lives of others.
00:03:13.860 | So let me illustrate the emergence of this calling
00:03:17.580 | through levels of impulse to write
00:03:21.460 | that many of us pass through.
00:03:23.860 | It is good to write for the sake of discovery.
00:03:27.540 | We learn as we write, and we write as we learn.
00:03:32.380 | This is good.
00:03:33.260 | It is one of the main reasons for keeping a journal,
00:03:37.020 | say, when you're younger or older,
00:03:39.420 | an idea notebook where you can work out your ideas
00:03:42.580 | and your thoughts.
00:03:43.500 | This impulse, however, is not yet God's calling to write.
00:03:49.700 | If that impulse is on you, you don't know yet
00:03:52.140 | whether you have a divine calling to be a writer.
00:03:55.380 | Second, it is good to write
00:03:59.180 | for the sake of craftsmanship or beauty.
00:04:02.900 | Human beings love to create things.
00:04:06.060 | Some create delicious meals, beautifully served.
00:04:09.500 | Some create homes of beauty
00:04:11.260 | with everything decorated in a pleasing way,
00:04:13.300 | and some create machines that accomplish amazing things.
00:04:17.700 | Some create lesson plans for teaching.
00:04:20.060 | Some create paintings, carvings, songs,
00:04:23.180 | patios, porches, decks, and on and on and on.
00:04:26.420 | We are makers by nature.
00:04:28.860 | It is properly satisfying to create things,
00:04:33.140 | and many people aim to make something beautiful by writing,
00:04:38.140 | something interesting, something compelling, and that's good,
00:04:41.700 | and that is not yet a divine calling to write.
00:04:46.780 | Just to have that impulse is not a calling.
00:04:49.820 | Then there is the impulse to write,
00:04:54.420 | not only to learn and not only to create something beautiful
00:04:59.420 | or interesting or compelling,
00:05:01.060 | but also the impulse to instruct and awaken and delight
00:05:06.060 | and transform people into obedient worshipers of Christ.
00:05:14.400 | When this impulse takes hold of a person,
00:05:17.860 | they are experiencing a call from God to write.
00:05:22.860 | Then the impulse to write, to discover and learn
00:05:28.380 | is never enough.
00:05:29.860 | It's good, it's real, but it won't satisfy.
00:05:33.920 | The impulse to make something beautiful and interesting
00:05:38.100 | and compelling is never enough.
00:05:40.500 | It's real, it's good, but it won't satisfy the person
00:05:44.140 | that has a divine calling from God on his life to write.
00:05:48.020 | A divine calling to write is a calling from God,
00:05:53.020 | through God, and for God.
00:05:56.740 | Until the writing is for God, it's not a calling from God.
00:06:01.740 | So we move from truth discovery
00:06:06.300 | through writing to creative expression
00:06:10.700 | through writing to the role of a servant in writing,
00:06:15.700 | which I described earlier like this.
00:06:21.080 | The impulse to instruct and awaken and delight
00:06:26.080 | and transform people into obedient worshipers of Christ.
00:06:31.380 | Instruct in the infinite expanse of truth.
00:06:36.860 | Awaken to the glory of God,
00:06:40.460 | radiant through all that he's made.
00:06:43.740 | Delight with craftsmanship of poetry and diction
00:06:48.740 | and style and story and transform people
00:06:53.740 | into those who enjoy God with us
00:06:58.440 | and walk in a way that pleases God.
00:07:01.620 | All of which means that the calling to write
00:07:06.620 | is by all means a calling to influence
00:07:09.820 | and transform, awaken, instruct, delight.
00:07:14.360 | And it is a calling, therefore, to pray and trust God
00:07:20.300 | because we can't do that by writing.
00:07:24.380 | Writing must become an instrument in the hand
00:07:29.220 | of the Holy Spirit and his miracle working power.
00:07:33.140 | So the person with a calling from God to be a writer
00:07:38.140 | is a person called to do in the lives of others
00:07:43.060 | through writing what only God can do.
00:07:45.100 | - That is very helpful.
00:07:47.100 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:07:48.620 | And if you have a question for Pastor John
00:07:50.340 | or if you wanna listen to our recent episodes
00:07:52.760 | or if you wanna find a list of the most played
00:07:54.920 | and popular episodes of all time,
00:07:56.640 | you can do all of that from our landing page.
00:07:59.260 | Go to desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:08:04.260 | Well, being a Christian in this world
00:08:06.340 | calls for an emotional complexity.
00:08:09.300 | And that's exactly what John Piper will explain
00:08:11.100 | for us tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:08:14.060 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:08:15.100 | Thanks for listening.
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