As a keen reader, I've always had profound admiration for writers. If they can engage my interest for any length of time, then I immediately elevate them to celebrity status. And if they are Christian writers, even more so! People like C S Lewis, Corrie Ten Boom, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Luci Swindoll, Frank Peretti... all up there...skill is to be covetted... far above reproachThis admiration does not extend to great talkers/preachers though- having been taken in and burnt by salesmen in the past. The smoother their words, the deeper my distrust of them.
I recently purchased a book called 'The Thrill of the Chaste' by Dawn Eden about being sexually pure in a sex-obsessed society. Dawn writes from the perspective of someone who has been there done that and realised how empty casual sex is. Her style is so down to earth and I've read through her book in one sitting, several times. Whenever I meet a cute guy, I guess her book helps me to refocus and keep my resolve NOT to objectify him.
I was quite pleased to learn that she was coming to London to give a talk on chastity at Farm Street Church, Mayfair. So went along for it. The room was packed with people, 20's and 30's - both women and men (which is a bit of a surprise because the book is primarily aimed at single women in their 20's & 30's). As usual I was the only black person there (won't ever get used to that... where are my people at???). This was not the only thing that was unique to me. It felt like I was the only Protestant too. A fact I should have picked up on earlier when I read in Dawn's blog that this would be her first appearance in London as a Catholic. So naturally her talk would be aimed at Catholics. Also Farm Street Church is a Catholic Church. Duh!!
The first thing she says is that she gets nervous and stammers when talking about sex, so it would really help if people in the audience would say a prayer to 'Our Lady' to help her out. You can imagine, as a Protestant I have 'issues' with that. And then her whole talk was peppered with deprecating remarks about Protestants. Her mother apparently is a Messianic Jew which as far as she is concerned, with a sneer, is 'just a Protestant who says Jewish prayers'. Dawn started out her Christian walk as a Protestant, but later converted to Catholicism because she thought Catholics were less hypocritical and took their faith more seriously. I probably wouldn't have taken issue with her anti-Protestant remarks, Lord knows we do enough Catholic bashing of our own, but the guys around me kept on snickering whenever she'd make them which further added to my discomfort.
Perhaps I am over-reacting, but I know for sure that hearing Dawn in person has made me evaluate the way I perceive writers. In fact, it was good to attend this talk, because it forced me to remove my rose-tinted glasses and actually see her for who she is. A fellow human being, capable of being judgemental and offensive (like the rest of us ordinary mortals), who just happens to have a talent for writing.
In Deuteronomy 5: 8 - 9A, it says
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..."
I guess it is possible to respect writers' talent, not forgetting that they too are human. My attitude towards them was definitely idol worship. So I repented before God and asked Him to help me to see these people from the right perspective, through His eyes!
