Writing to heal the Body of Christ

Are you concerned about the decline in church attendance in almost every denomination? Are you as distressed as I am about the divisions among Christians? Do you wish you could do something. As communicators for Christ, we can! For example:

• We can write honest, accurate, uplifting poems, devotionals, books, and stories to strengthen the faith of our readers.
• We can visit the websites of each denomination and study their statements of beliefs then write to overcome assumptions, errors, or misunderstanding.
• We can write about what we love in the Christian community and encourage forgiveness, acceptance, and respect for one another.
• We can research what the Bible says about fellowship in Christ and write about what draws us together and makes us One.
• We can investigate areas of dissension and pray to provide a voice of reason, balance, and healing.

If we write fiction, we can do so with a healing theme and purpose. For example, we might set a novel in another era where people dealt with similar concerns or write a Romeo and Juliette story between two lovers from opposing backgrounds, say, during the Reformation.

Most importantly, we can pray for discernment, expecting God to answer, and we can examine our minds and motives as we ask ourselves:

• Does my writing stir up debates or stir and quicken readers to consider differences from a spiritual perspective?

• Will my words help readers from diverse cultures to accept the forgiveness, redemption, and salvation of Jesus Christ, perhaps by showing that love and those blessings through story people, personal experiences, biblical truths, and practical suggestions?

• Does my writing speak ill of others or speak peace? In what ways can my poems, stories, devotionals, articles, and books bring reconciliation and healing to denominational or other church factions?

• The Bible gives us the wonderful analogy of One Body with many parts. Where do we see ourselves in the Body of Christ? Are any parts missing?

• Obviously, an elbow is not a toe, nor an ear a shinbone! But each part is vital to the whole. Can our writings show this? Can you think of another analogy that might speak to people today to show the need Christ has for each one of us to be One in Him?


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler

For general help with your writing, revising, and more, order the Christian Writers’ Guide e-book.

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5 common mistakes in writing nonfiction for kids

For a couple of decades, I read entries in the children’s literature category of an international writing contest. Each year, I hoped to find well-written nonfiction articles and interesting book chapters excerpted from dynamic nonfiction. Sometimes I did, and sometimes manuscripts looked promising, but many suffered from these 5 common flaws:

1. In an obvious effort to be fresh and lively, writers often started their nonfiction for children with scenes straight out of a novel. For example, they might begin with dialogue, a problem, a child’s thoughts, or an amusing conversation that read like the opening of a sit-com. Often, a main character asked a grandparent about a subject soon to be addressed but, unfortunately, not nearly soon enough. These novel openings sounded good at first but quickly brought confusion, especially since readers did not know what the subject actually was unless they read an entire page or two or three.

2. Another problem arose with credibility and accuracy – or lack thereof. With no bibliography to cite sources at the end of a manuscript, I couldn't tell if the author had spent weeks searching, sorting, and sifting through reliable information or merely passed along opinions and assumptions as fact.

3. A more common flaw occurred in the quality of writing. For example, the use of passive voice seemed particularly prevalent with phrase after phrase stating, “It is” or “There was.” Such a passive voice seemed to speak for a passive writer, who did not take just a little more time to search for active verbs and strong nouns that readers could readily picture.

4. Speaking of pictures, young readers need to be able to envision what they’re reading whether the pages contain illustrations or not. For the writing to be clear, each sentence usually needs an easy-to-picture noun that brings to mind a person, place, or thing, but not a vague idea. An active verb can then put that noun into motion. If a nonfiction manuscript happened to be the text for a children’s picture book, the mental images on every page became vital or, voila, no picture book.

5. That seems obvious, but, fortunately, so do some solutions to each of the problems mentioned. Most writers have fine minds and can figure these things out for themselves once they recognize a problem or even know to look for one. Often, though, writers got caught up in stories they couldn't wait to share with their children or grandchildren, forgetting kids of all ages have their own interests and preferences, and are waiting for the next enticing subject to connect with and enjoy.

©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler
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