If by God's grace, and the questionable literary tastes of the American book-buying public, I ever achieve widespread recognition for my writing, I desperately hope it's not for my more overtly "Christian books."
Modern successful Christian authors are often turned into demagogues of sorts, their books rendered Gideon's ephod. Big names in Christianity* like Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Tim Keller, Rachel Held Evans (RIP) have developed fandoms that border on cults of personality, so to speak. Whether this is the author's conscious goal or not is different with every heart. There are those who eschew such celebrity worship and give the glory of the message to God, while it seems many are clamoring to be the next theological rebel, the next boat-rocker and wave-maker, rather than meek preachers of the Gospel.
My first two Christian books, Sheep Named Spike and Hog Heaven were, in hindsight, little more than The Bud Sturguess Show; Christ came second. I don't want to put myself before Him anymore. John the Baptist says of Him, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
I once saw an interview with John Piper, who strikes me as a very humble and genuine preacher, in which he answered questions written by readers. One of the questions, of course by no fault of Piper's, was, "if you had 2 minutes with the Pope, what would you say?" I hope no one ever wonders or cares what Bud Sturguess would say to the Pope. I hope they have no delight in my Reformed Protestant theological sass and spunk setting Francis straight on a thing or two.
If - again, by God's grace - any of my work should receive notice and acclaim, I don't want it to be for my "Christian books." I do believe God can be seen in secular works - partly because, nothing is truly secular. There is either that which acknowledges God and that which doesn't; that which gives Him glory and that which ignores or curses Him. Neither "Bootylicious" nor "My Utmost For His Highest" can escape His judgmental and discerning eye.
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:23-24).
Not every Christian woodworker builds crosses, but the woodworker who builds a porch for God's glory does more than the cross maker who etches their own name on each one. If I write a book for God's glory, and someone is positively impacted or moved by it, I'd much rather they say "I read some thing by this guy, and this one character said something that really touched me..." than someone read my sermons and gush, "OH. MY. GOSH. BUD STURGUESS IS SO GREAT! HAVE YOU READ BUD'S STUFF?!"
Heaven forbid there ever be a BUD STURGUESS STUDY BIBLE or a BUD STURGUESS DAILY DEVOTIONAL CALENDAR. I want to be a Christian, not a Christian media personality.
"And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.'" -Genesis 11:4
PS Yes, I'm aware of the irony of using Christian writing to declare how I hope to never become famous for Christian writing...and while I'm bordering on hypocrisy, you can check out my books here: lulu.com/spotlight/BudSturguess.
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