This weekend at the Writer’s Conference I attended, one of the questions we were asked was, “Why do you write?” They encouraged us to understand our mission statement, our purpose, in order to propel our work forward by a central driving vision. So, I’ve been thinking about this. And, you’d think I’d write down why I write, huh? Well, eventually I will. Right now, here are thoughts from John Piper on reading and writing (given to me by my ever-encouraging husband), to which I would give a hearty “Amen!” I pray we all will ripple throughout this world!
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I’ve been thinking again about the importance of reading and writing. There
are several reasons I write. One of the most personally compelling is that I
read. I mean, my main spiritual sustenance comes by the Holy Spirit from
reading. Therefore reading is more important to me than eating. If I went
blind, I would pay to have someone read to me. I would try to learn Braille.
I would buy “books on tape.” I would rather go without food than go
without books. Therefore, writing feels very lifegiving to me, since I get so
much of my own life from reading.
Combine this with what Paul says in Ephesians 3:3-4, “By revelation there
was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by
referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the
mystery of Christ.” The early church was established by apostolic writing as
well as apostolic preaching. God chose to send his living Word into the
world for 30 years, and his written Word into the world for 2000+ years.
Think of the assumption behind this divine decision. People in each
generation would be dependent on those who read. Some people, if not all,
would have to learn to read—and read well, in order to be faithful to God.
So it has been for thousands of years. Generation after generation has read
the insights of its writers. This is why fresh statements of old truth are
always needed. Without them people will read error. Daniel Webster once
said,
If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses
in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us
as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and
His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works
will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not
reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious
literature will.1
Millions of people are going to read. If they don’t read contemporary
Christian books, they are going to read contemporary secular books. They
will read. It is amazing to watch people in the airports. At any given
moment there must be hundreds of thousands of people reading just in
airports. One of the things we Christians need to be committed to, besides
reading, is giving away solid books to those who might read them, but
would never buy them.
The ripple effect is incalculable. Consider this illustration:
A book by Richard Sibbes, one of the choicest of the Puritan
writers, was read by Richard Baxter, who was greatly blessed
by it. Baxter then wrote his Call to the Unconverted which
deeply influenced Philip Doddridge, who in turn wrote The
Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. This brought the
young William Wilberforce, subsequent English statesman and
foe of slavery, to serious thoughts of eternity. Wilberforce
wrote his Practical Book of Christianity which fired the soul of
Leigh Richmond. Richmond, in turn, wrote The Dairyman’s
Daughter, a book that brought thousands to the Lord, helping
Thomas Chalmers the great preacher, among others.2
It seems to me that in a literate culture like ours, where most of us know
how to read and where books are available, the Biblical mandate is: keep on
reading what will open the Holy Scriptures to you more and more. And
keep praying for Bible-saturated writers. There are many great old books to
read. But each new generation needs its own writers to make the message
fresh. Read and pray. And then obey.
Pastor John