Really Good News

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed several non-fiction books published by New York houses or independents that tell the story of a person raised in a fundamentalist Christian home that broke free. Maybe she came to Jesus later in life, then experienced the misogyny and dysfunction in the church. 

These authors, in many cases, still identify as Christians, but faith post-crisis looks a lot different than it did pre-crisis and is almost certainly no longer connected to evangelicalism.

In this light, if I pitch an article to a national publication like The New York Times, here is the angle that would give me the best chance at “yes” from an editor:

I’m exposing this part of Christian culture, it’s really broken, you wouldn’t believe the stuff that happens. At the end of the article, I might be able to reveal I’m a Christian because I have a pass from the reader. That’s because my own brand of Christianity comes with “a wink-wink” — I’ve proven I’m acceptably jaded about faith, and especially any church institutions.

Shouldn’t this be my dream as a writer? To write for a national pub even if it’s just vaguely clear I’m a Christian at the end of the piece?

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It’s not lost on me that I run the risk of estranging myself, like, completely, for talking about this, but what do you do when you’re writing about Christianity and culture from a different place, a middle place? 

How I make decisions, interact in the world, and think through ethics and culture, is plainly rooted in the teachings of Jesus. I know how that sounds, and what cultural currency it could cost me in some circles. But I also know that when you speak honestly, cards face up, about where you’re coming from, people tend to make space for you. 

I have a simple faith in a complicated world that my eyes are open to, and I hold both at the same time. But that also means there are few publications or publishers for people like me to land. 

Who are we writing to, who do publishers want to sell books to, and why does it matter? Is there a different way? One where we don’t have to compromise identity and can still be read broadly?

At the end of the Breath and the Clay conference last year, my friend Josh and a woman I haven’t met, the wonderful illustrator Vesper Stamper, spoke on a panel about the soul of creativity versus the business of creativity. It’s a really good conversation. But in the last question, some panelists talk about how their faith is deconstructing and evolving. They spoke with, what to me as a listener, felt like a certain distance. 

Then there’s this moment when Vesper says her “evolution is a returning” to first things. Josh talks about how, instead of evolving away from the gospel, he is being brought back to its simplicity. It was a countercultural and powerful moment. Here, in 2019, is an invitation for people who love Jesus to make a move. We can press into the simple, sweet things of the gospel. The first fruits. And, yes, we can also have eyes open.

I believe there is a way to write about culture, to be alert to oppression and brokenness, and to still pursue a deep relationship with God. I’m just not sure there are enough spaces to publish writing that explores this space. 

Here I am, and maybe you are, too. In the middle, looking for each other. We write, speak, and think about human flourishing at the same time we challenge our assumptions and use our hands to do the work. The woods are wide but we’re scattered on the path, and it leads to a clearing.

It feels like time someone, somewhere, started a new media project — podcasts, magazines, books, for people in the middle. Christians who are exploring topics of faith that may be too insider for traditional media and too countercultural in faith-based spaces. Let’s find each other, and let’s imagine what could be. 

If this resonates, please comment below or email me. Tell me if you see a need for writing in this middle space, or if you have any ideas about how we can get there.