Something has become a fresh priority for me lately, something that’s not new to me. Something that’s not a great revelation. I suppose it’s just a confirmation, a reaffirmation of my ultimate writing goal. It’s all about the people.
Years ago when I first starting writing devotions, I sought encouragement from a well-known women’s leader. What I got in return was a polite letter from someone who reads her mail saying that while this particular woman would love to answer all her mail, she simply didn’t have time in her writing schedule.
End of letter.
That bothered me. I know different people have different God-given assignments. I get that. But I decided then and there, to the best of my ability, my ministry would always be about touching the people. Because as I understand it, God’s Kingdom is all about the people.
Last week, my kids and I got ourselves in gear for the fall and started back to our homeschool routine. As part of our history curriculum, we read a lot of historical and biographical fiction. I try to read ahead of my kids so I can discuss it somewhat intelligently with them.
The book I picked up to read this weekend was Teresa of Calcutta: Serving the Poorest of the Poor by D. Jeanene Watson. (You can read more about the book along with my review by clicking here.) One of the things that most impressed me about Mother Teresa was that no matter what, she kept the concept of serving Christ in the forefront of her mind all the time. She knew that when she touched the dying, she touched Christ. When she fed the hungry, she fed Christ. When she held a deserted baby, she held Christ. She served God by remembering and teaching that it was all about the people.
I’m also slowly working my way through the Bible study Nehemiah by Kelly Minter. The final lesson of week three and the beginning of week four she points out that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem “only had meaning in so far as those walls housed people.” It had to be all about the people.
And within my writing, I strive to keep in mind that it’s all about the people. I don’t always succeed in keeping it at the top of my priority list, but I try. And when I know I fail, then I repent, re-prioritize, and try again.
I know some will think: With fiction? Yes. With my fiction writing, with my short stories, with my blog and magazine articles and devotions and anything else I put out. Why? So that by all possible means I might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Because the Kingdom of God is all about the people.
If you would like keep up with my posts, books and other news, click here to go to the home page where you can sign up to receive the blog posts in your email box.
It’s great that you are focused on people. I also am bothered by responses from mail readers like the one you got. I’d even feel better about a form response from the person I wrote to rather than from an assistant. I realize it takes time for them to respond, but it also took time for us to write, and a response like you got makes it feel like the intended recipient never even saw the message.