I am only providing, in this post, “the why” for this “guide” or “manual” as to why I think it might be a good idea for authors who claim to believe on Jesus Christ to use their writing “talent” to try to convince others of their own free will to repent of whatever sins and accept Christ as Lord and Savior–to be “born again.” That is, having been born of water (in the flesh), to be born “again” in the Spirit. And now is the time for me to present this “guide,” for it seems more and more as if the world has gone crazy, especially now with wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East. To the point where many preachers are now claiming we are either in “the end times” or fast approaching “the end times.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But whether we are coming close to “the end times” or not, it is still a good idea to follow what Christ told His Apostles upon His resurrection return (before going up to Heaven): to make Disciples of all nations (as said in Matthew 28:19–“Go ye therefore and teach all nations…”). A “mission of God” so-to-speak. From Chapter One of Talent For A Mission, copyright © 2023 by Deborah Lagarde:
Why Am I Writing This ‘Guide’?
This ‘guide’ or book is being written for two reasons:
One, because God’s evangelical or missionary mission for believers on Christ is, as Christ Himself said in the Gospel of Matthew, (28:19, as well as Luke 24:47) to make disciples of all nations. How can Christian authors ‘make disciples of all nations’ when so many Christian fiction novels are about Christians and/or written for Christians? Many of these novels contain gossipy ‘he said-she said’ stuff between two or more Christians about what pastor so-and-so told some deacon regarding sleeping with the neighbor’s wife or rumors that some elder is actually homosexual or some youth minister allegedly raped a six-year-old…. You know the drill, and I’ve read some Christian fiction in the past. Nearly all of these I’ve read include the plots or themes I just mentioned. One novel I can’t even remember the name of was about a preacher having to repent of having sex with the wife of some church member and not telling his own wife, having to finally admit it when the wife catches him in the act.
Look. I know all Christians, as with all people, are or were serious sinners and these kinds of scenarios are real. But what if some non-Christian trying to find out what Christian authors write about Christian acts or whatever, reads the book, finds it complete and utter Christian hypocrisy, then believes ‘no way in Hell am I going to convert’ to belief on Christ?
And I am guilty of that as well to some extent. My first self-published novel, Battle of the Band, 1996, about a rock band—I did not know if God gave me that inspiration for the purpose of said band converting to belief on Christ at that time—did in fact have debauched scenes within, cussing, and even occultist-type rituals. After all, haven’t all rock stars ‘sold their souls to the devil’? But here is the thing: while some Christian readers were somewhat offended, my first…and second (The Prophesied Band, 1998) and third (The Prodigal Band, 2018) were NOT written for Christian audiences. The Prodigal Band is where the band accepts Christ because they want to and feel they must repent of their debaucheries of which there were many, including an unwitting worship of a fictional Satan-figure.
In fact, the trilogy became a trilogy meant for NON-Christians to try to at least have them consider accepting Christ as Savior. Acceptance of Christ as Redeemer MUST be a choice the person makes and should NEVER be forced on anyone!
Now, if the Christian author wants to write about Christians sinning and then repenting, fine. If the Christian author strictly wants to write for Christians, fine.
But God gave you “a talent” (see the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25, verses 14 through 30) and as Christ said, a “mission” to ‘make disciples of all nations.’ Or at least have them consider the possibility without forcing it on them. It would be as if instead of going up to someone and talking about Christ and redemption, you are writing about Christ and His redemption to a reader instead.
And remember also Christ’s words to the disciples that the disciples would do greater works than even Christ did (a passage my own pastor is constantly using in his sermons!)? Writing a work of fiction about acceptance of Christ by a person or group that one would normally not expect to convert to belief on Christ could be pretty ‘great’ especially in this day and age of world wide web, e-books, PDF books, videos, podcasts….and when a book in English can be translated to almost any language using software.
Now there are still tribes and groups of people who never heard, or likely never heard, the Word of God. The North Sentinelese, for instance…remember reading about that American evangelizer whom made it to the island and was quickly killed by natives? But, at some point—even if it happens with some tragedy—God will find a way for these folks to hear His Word.
Now let’s take another primitive group of people, the Bushmen of the Kalahari and Namib Deserts in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and other nations. For many thousands of years these Bushmen, the San, Xhosa, and other people who speak with clicks, have been hunter-gatherers in these remote regions lacking the amount of water most folks would take for granted, and survived and thrived. As far as I know they are the only folks who ‘click-speak,’ so how could some other African or European on a missionary mission, say, talk to these Bush folks when they do not speak with clicks?
This is where a bit of tragedy comes in. In 1990 or thereabouts, the Botswana government outlawed hunting and gathering in what is called the Kalahari Wildlife Refuge or Reserve, and the Bushmen there had to be put on settlements surrounded by fences outside the refuge. There are several YouTube videos about this. One video talks about a Bushman who wandered into Namibia and cannot return to Botswana—no passport. Another video is about the uncertain future of young Bushmen…keep the traditions of ancestors and continue to practice a restrictive form of hunter-gathering, or join “civilization” by going to school, learning English, technology, etc., and perhaps hearing the Word of God and then spreading it back to the fellow Bushmen?
Because “The Gods” are not “Crazy”! ((Reference to one of my favorite movie series ever starring a Kalahari Bushman named !Xi (pronounced ‘Kee’) called The Gods Must Be Crazy, Parts 1 and 2…watch the movies to learn more about the Kalahari Bushmen. The ‘!’ denotes the click consonant.)
Of course, one could go down into Botswana and learn click-speak…
In fact, upon hearing Xhosa native Miriam Mkeba’s famous hit song from the 70s called Pata Pata on YouTube and her click speaking and another click-consonant lesson video, I actually learned a little click-speak! Different click-consonants have different clicks, however, in different parts of the mouth.
Thus, it is not at all impossible for a non-Bushman to click-speak.
But that’s it for reason One.
Two, because the Spirit that resides in me wants me to write this!
It’s the same Holy Spirit that inspired me to write my trilogy in the first place beginning in the early 90s when ‘a voice’ (not in my own voice) put these notions into my head as I looked up into the night sky. And that night, I began writing the first book in The Prodigal Band Trilogy.
Why The Prodigal Band Trilogy? Because the ‘Parable of the Prodigal’ (or Lost) Son’ has the same destination as what this Spirit intended for me to write. And who is more ‘lost’ that a rock and roll band that ‘sold their souls to the devil’?
Later this week I will post the remainder of Chapter One. Blessings!
Use the menu above to download the FREE PDF The Prodigal Band and the FREE PDF The Murder Rule, read snippet posts, purchase books and more. Cheers!
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