Big Mac?

 

I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey

(Exodus 3:17b nlt)

 

Regular readers of this blog will probably know that I am deaf, and use live captions in order to read what people are saying in Zoom calls.

Recently, someone said: “The promised land was flowing with milk and honey.”

The captions read: The promised land was flowing with McDonalds.

 A few days later, I was chatting with a young person, and told them about the typo. Their immediate response? “I want to go there!”

I once asked my nephew where he’d like to go for lunch? “Definitely not McDonald’s.”

 Photo by Emil huang on Unsplash

People are different. Different preferences, and responses, and ways of engaging.

Which is why we need different kinds of writing….

 

Now if the novelist should say, “Because I am not a blogger, I do not belong to the writing community,” they would not for that reason stop being part of the writing community.

If a reader of novels sees only blogs, will they engage?

“I want to go there!” “Definitely not McDonald’s.”

And if the poet should say, “Because I don’t write non-fiction, I do not belong to the writing community,” they would not for that reason stop being part of the writing community.  

If a reader of poetry sees only non-fiction, will they engage?

“I want to go there!” “Definitely not McDonald’s.”

If the whole body wrote non-fiction, where would the poetry be? If the whole body wrote sonnets, where would the textbooks be?  

If a reader of sonnets sees only textbooks, will they engage?

“I want to go there!” “Definitely not McDonald’s.”

If Christian Writers were all the same, where would diversity of expression be?  There are many writers, but one writing community.

A community comprised of More Than Writers:

The writers cannot say to the editors, “I don’t need you!” And the publishers cannot say to the sales reps, “I don’t need you!” The shops cannot say to the customers, “I don’t need you!” The cover-designers cannot say to the readers, “I don’t need you!”

The Christian book world is made up of many genres and giftings, but one body. And God has placed each one, just as he wanted them to be.  

(The above is based on 1 Corinthians 12. Why not have a go at writing similar yourself, about any aspect of your life. Friendships, family....)

 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (verse 27)

A part of the writing community if we haven’t written for a while.

A part of the writing community if we write 2000 words every day.

A part of the writing community if we get writer’s block.

A part of the writing community if we struggle to publish what we have written.

A part of the writing community if we write for ‘I want to go there!’ readers.

A part of the writing community if we write for ‘Definitely not McDonalds’ readers.

A part of the writing community if we write for both.

A part of the writing community if....

 

‘May the Lord bless you

    and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you

    and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor

    and give you his peace.’

(Numbers 6:24-26 nlt)