There’s been some chat recently on Twitter about the motivation for some people, particularly Pastors, to write books. As a Pastor who has written a book that came out this week I kind of feel like I need to say something. The issue, in my opinion, isn’t so much the writing of a book but more the motivation behind it.
For example, if a Pastor writes a book to gain a bigger platform, to be seen as something special or out of a desire to ‘achieve a greater ministry’ then I would say those are the wrong motives.
Building a platform and a Pastor don’t go together, or they shouldn’t go together. There’s nothing wrong with a Pastor having a big following on social media or being recognised for his giftedness, but if the Pastor is trying to make themselves great I think that’s wrong. The whole attitude of a Christian minister should be that of humility not power or influence grabbing.
A Pastor shouldn’t desire to be seen as something special, instead our role is to make much of Jesus. You can’t make much of Jesus if you’re always trying to make much of yourself.
A Pastor shouldn’t be trying to reach or ‘achieve’ a ‘greater ministry’. This is more of a pride-trap than people realise. I’ve heard of Pastors talk about wanting to serve in bigger churches. I’ve heard people speak about new ministry jobs being a career ‘step up’. If the desire to write a book is so that you gain extra ‘street cred’ on your ministry CV then you should probably choose another line of work.
There’s also a question of time. Personally, I wrote my book on my own time. I didn’t write it during my working hours but mostly during the evening at home or on weekends. That’s a bigger discussion concerning the contracted hours of a Pastor (which never normally stick within the actual contracted hours anyway). I’ll leave that discussion for another day.
So why did I write a book?
1. I was invited to
I was approached by my publisher and together we talked about ideas that we thought were missing in the current Christian literature market. I’ve had these conversations with plenty of Christians in the past, some on the publishing world and some outside of it. Most Christians, with an interest in books, have opinions on what is or is not missing from the Christian book market.
2. I’m a writer
I’m an external processor. I like to talk things through and I like to write. Writing for me is a big hobby, if my writing slips then I know that there isn’t a healthy balance in my life at that moment. For me writing is a way for me to express my thoughts and if that helps people along the way great!
3. I wanted to help
My book speaks to a specific issue – a lot of people (new and not so new Christians included) do not know their Old Testament. Therefore, as someone who loves the Old Testament I wanted to help people see the beauty of it and the importance of reading the part which takes us approximately 75% of our Bibles.
My goal in writing was never to create a platform, to gain recognition or to have a ‘step up’ for a future career move. My goal was, and remains, to glorify Jesus as much as I can and to make His name great. I hope that those who read my book realise that desire in my writing and are pointed to Jesus and worship Him more.
You can get a copy of my book here, I would love to hear your honest feedback 🙂
Chalmers' Blog 