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| Melinda Viergever Inman |
Write
with a Clean Conscience
We live in tumultuous times, and we write for the God of the
universe. Will we write for Jesus, declaring His message of reconciliation in
our stories and blogs, or will angry political and social discourse derail our
mission?
This past political season was one of the most vitriolic
ever seen. Now we have a new president, and the social upheaval continues and
may have worsened.
What would God have us write? How do we stay true to our
calling?
Today I urge each of us to consider how our words affect our
readers. To be true to our convictions, to follow the Lord's urging, and to
bring Scripture into the social discussion, we may have written about the moral
implications of this campaign. Others of us may have written for or against a
candidate based upon these positions.
Pause to consider: As you wrote, did you sin in word or
deed? Did you write what God led you to write, or did you write what your own
emotion and opinions pushed you to say? Did you engage in name calling,
demeaning others, lecturing, or condescension as you supported your position?
Or were your words gracious? Did you soften them with kindness, compassion, and
an awareness of the equally thoughtful position of those who held a different
view?
We are emotional. We are writers. The entire country went
mad in October and November. If you aren’t sure if you erred, scroll back
through your social media and blog history and look at your words. Try to be
objective. Ask someone you trust for his or her input, if necessary.
Now is the time to mend fences, if fences need mending. Now
is the time to repent of our error, either one way or another. Now is the time
to affirm to the Lord that we will write His words, come what may, and that we
will write them in His way, not our own.
That is
my encouragement to you today, that you write with a clear conscience. A world
in turmoil needs writers of pure heart.
In this post-election period, our words as Christian writers
have the power to bring peace, to open eyes to understand the viewpoints of the
other side, and to promote the unity of the body of Christ. Praying over our
words and their timing is critically important.
But how can we hear the Lord’s leading, if we have bruised
consciences that linger from that awful time of political argument? Can we say
with Paul, “Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the
world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly
sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace”
(1 Corinthians 1:12 NIV).
Please, pause to consider and to take action, as the Lord
leads. If the niggling of a troubled conscience picks at your tranquility, I
encourage you to set matters straight and make amends, perhaps even publishing
an apology.
In these trying times, we are the prophets. “The testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10b NIV). We need to write
Biblical truth, no matter how convicting. We need to put aside our desire to
keep from rocking the boat, if the boat does indeed need to be rocked. We need
to write with grace. We need to speak and write a message of repentance and of
turning back to the Lord, but in a gracious and humble way.
No
president or governmental system can save us, but Jesus can. He is the Messiah.
Let us examine our consciences and then gird our loins,
fellow writers. The keyboard is still mightier than the sword, and gracious
words are the most powerful of all. They offer healing and inspire our readers
toward reconciliation. Let’s write God's words.
Love
takes action: The Creator God establishes the cosmos and shapes a man. Adam
rises from the dust. Envious, the powerful angel Lucifer despises him.
Oblivious to the threat, Adam is captivated by his strong, intuitive wife Eve.
In the Garden of Eden, they enjoy abundant food, gorgeous vistas, and
intriguing challenges, including their budding love and passion. They have it
all!
But
Lucifer’s deceptive brilliance tricks them into disobeying God. They eat the
one forbidden fruit. Their innocence is shattered. Their unity with one another
and with God is destroyed. Death will follow. Lucifer’s jealousy threatens
mankind’s tenuous beginning. But God is merciful. What astonishing promise does
He make? How will Adam and Eve survive—broken, shattered, and separated from God?
Melinda Viergever Inman was
raised in a storytelling family. There her roots were sunk. During years of
relocation, tragedy struck. Wounded and heartbroken, Melinda forsook her roots
and ran from herself and from God. A journey of trial and heartache brought her
home again. A prodigal now returned, she writes with passion, illustrating
God's love for wounded people as He makes beauty from ashes. Fallen is her second novel; Refuge, the sequel, is her first.
Melinda shepherds women in prison ministry and writes inspirational material at
http://melindainman.com/blog/. With her family she is involved with Mission
India/RIMI, rescuing orphans and providing theological and job training for
impoverished students.
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