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Home » Theology » Page 2

Theology

Incarnational Writing

By Bob Hostetleron December 21, 2022
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It’s that holy time of year when followers of Jesus around the world contemplate and celebrate the truth of the Incarnation, the miraculous, mind-boggling moment when the Son of God, the Eternal Word, “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14, NIV). So, first, I wish the readers of this blog a merry and holy Christmas.

Second, I’d like to opine for a few moments on the value—necessity, even—of “incarnational writing.”

I spoke at length recently with a gifted writer who, having taught for years and written academically, struggled to find her voice and write in a winsome style that would capture and keep her intended readers. I did my best to suggest a few changes, only later realizing that the need was for incarnational writing.

What is incarnational writing? To answer that question, I refer to Jesus,

Who, being in very nature God,

     did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

     by taking the very nature of a servant,

     being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

     he humbled himself

     by becoming obedient to death—

     even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV).

So, though I’m still falteringly thinking through things myself, let me try to translate that into writing terms:

He started as God.

Jesus was “in very nature God.” We are not. Obviously. But Christian writers can—and must—start with God. Incarnational writing begins in prayer and submission to the God who is our supply, in every way. Even in what we write.

He didn’t strut and preen as an “expert.”

Teachers and professors are “experts.” So are preachers, to some, at least. But the incarnational writer doesn’t hold on to his or her status, but instead strikes the tone of a co-laborer or co-traveler, a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, so to speak.

He didn’t stay in the “theoretical.”

Jesus presented lofty truth to humans, of course. But he was unfailingly practical, as we must be in our writing. In today’s writing terms, Jesus always provided a clear “takeaway.” (Though, to be fair, he did sometimes speak in riddles to veil his meaning; but that was specific to him and his mission, I think.)

He “enfleshed” the truth.

The core of the Incarnation is that Jesus took on human flesh; truth enfleshed. He became “one of us” and experienced the limitations, vulnerability, and weaknesses of humanity. Similarly, when we write vulnerably, not hiding our flaws and doubts and humanness, we may be writing more like he lived.

He came to serve the “other.”

Jesus became a servant. His whole purpose in living was to supply the desperate needs of others by dying and rising again. In my coaching conversations with writers, the most frequent counsel I offer is to write to serve the reader by honestly identifying that person’s already-felt need and writing to meet that need. For some, it’s a difficult change to make. Many of us write what we want or need to express, rather than turning our perspective around and, well, writing incarnationally, serving the reader’s need rather than our own.

I don’t know; maybe I’m stretching things too far. What do you think? Is “incarnational writing” possible? Are there other, better ways to think about this?

 

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Category: The Writing Life, Theology

4 Ways to Be a Grateful Writer

By Bob Hostetleron November 16, 2022
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How great is it being a writer? Sure, there are downsides. Rejection. Revision. Poverty. And so on. But all in all, writers are a privileged bunch. We get to write! We get to “live and move and have our being” among words, sentences, magazines, blogs, and books. We know how to use semicolons and apostrophes (well; some of us’ do anyway). We sometimes even experience the joy of knowing someone has …

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Category: Personal, TheologyTag: thanksgiving

Just Write the Opposite

By Dan Balowon October 27, 2022
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From season five of the television sitcom Seinfeld, a revealing quote from the character George Costanza: “It all became very clear to me sitting out there today, that every decision I’ve ever made, in my entire life, has been wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Every instinct I have, in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to …

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Category: The Writing Life, Theology

Four Short Prayers for Writers

By Bob Hostetleron October 13, 2022
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From time to time, because I believe that prayer is the Christian writer’s first and most important task, I post on this blog a prayer that I’ve written and prayed for my writing. Some, however, are so short that they don’t lend themselves to the kind of superior quality I regularly achieve in my blog posts. (Okay, so I’ll pray for humility—happy now?) So I thought today I would post four—that’s …

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Category: The Writing Life, Theology

The Transfiguration of Jesus

By Steve Laubeon October 10, 2022
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In a change of pace today, I thought I’d post a link to an online guest lecture I did on the Transfiguration of Jesus. It is part of the “God’s Glory, Our Delight” Gospel Spice series hosted by Stephanie Rousselle. Click here to be taken to the hosted page for the study. I originally recorded it 18 months ago (in the midst of the pandemic shutdown), and it was used in one …

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Category: TheologyTag: Bible study, Transfiguration

Food vs. Medicine Books

By Dan Balowon September 7, 2022
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Even though this topic could be applicable to just about any type of book, we’ll be looking at those in the Christian publishing category today. Categorizing books has been part of publishing for a very long time. Officially, there are over four dozen primary book categories designated by the BISAC coding system, which spin off to thousands of subcategories. For example, one of the primary …

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Category: Book Business, Christian, Creativity, Theology

Against Laziness (A Writer’s Prayer)

By Bob Hostetleron August 24, 2022
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God, save me from laziness as a writer. Save me from the error of thinking my first draft is good enough. Save me from settling for second best. Save me from low standards, pedestrian thoughts, stale words, and pat answers. Grant me the grace to reread and rewrite with diligence and insight. Grant me the courage to invite and accept valuable and insightful critique from others. Grant me the …

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Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, Theology

Theology for Writers

By Dan Balowon August 4, 2022
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Spoiler alert: God’s nature never changes. His truth is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. While Christian writers seek to write in a compelling, engaging manner, seeking to pull readers through their books from paragraph to paragraph and page after page, the foundational theology of which they write never changes. You might write about the need for someone to make Jesus the Lord of their …

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Category: Theology

21 Influential Books

By Steve Laubeon July 18, 2022
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There is a shelf in our living room where I have placed the books that had the most influence on my spiritual growth. I call them my “Punctuation Marks” because in a metaphoric way some books were a comma, some an exclamation point, and some a period or full stop. The beauty of having them all in one place is the visual reminder of those moments when God reached out through the pages of creative …

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Category: Personal, Reading, TheologyTag: Books, Reading

He Is Risen!

By Steve Laubeon April 17, 2022
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He is risen indeed! “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we …

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Category: Personal, TheologyTag: Easter
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