My freshman year of college, I sat down in my first ever communications class, unsure of what to expect. Would I enjoy this major? What would my professor be like? 

 She walked in that room on high heels and a stunning pants suit and immediately began teaching. After introductions had been made and syllabi reviewed, she looked at us sincerely, a question in her eyes. “What’s your why?” she asked. 

 Another student in the class stared at her with a deer-in-the-headlights as she pointed at him. “What’s your why, Lucas?” she demanded. “Why are you in this class?” 

 “Because I’m a communications major,” he responded. 

 “Why?” she asked. 

 “Because I want to work in a company in public relations,” he said. 

 “Why, why?” She wasn’t letting this go. 

 “Because I believe that every Christian has a responsibility to shine the light of Christ in the workplace and I want to do that as I get a job and live out my life following Him.” 

 The class blinked. 

 “There you go.” 

After that class, I went back to my dorm and searched my heart. Why was I a writer? How did I keep going? Where did I find my motivation? As my professor had asked, “What was my why?” 

As an author who wants to take my place in the world, I have to maintain an image. Communicate a certain message. Find a niche but be unique. So if I’m going to talk about something a lot, it needs to be important to me. It needs to be connected to my why. 

Why Do I Write? 

The Holy Spirit has given me a passion for a specific genre of books. Not the sort of books you grab off the shelf randomly at the library. No–Something deep and weighty and intensely freeing. A “fluff” book is entertaining every once in a while, but it’s not the sort of book that feeds the soul. 

I want to write books that feed the soul. 

How do I do that? If you’ve seen the homepage of this website, you know the words. It’s time to dig a little deeper into that. 

Firstly, I want my books to be beautiful. If you’ve read or talked to me about books at any point, you probably know that. Beauty is extremely important to me. A beautiful book communicates more than just the story. A beautiful book tells the reader that the author is willing to spend time perfecting their words and serving the reader because they are worth that. A beautiful book is a labor of love.

I’ll be honest, beautiful writing is not easy. It takes much longer to write something that is lovely than something that gets the message across but contains no aesthetic value. Despite this, I think it’s worth it. Beautiful books read better (especially out loud) and it give the reader a better experience.

Beautiful books make me long for heaven. They house that thin space where my heavenly and earthly homes converge, where I am reminded of my true home even as I am living in this temporary one. Beautiful writing isn’t just a reflection of heaven, however. Beautiful writing is a reflection of Beauty Himself. 

I want my readers to long not only for heaven, but for the one who makes heaven what it is. The one who brings them to heaven. The one whose presence makes heaven what it is.

Theological books? What does that mean, you ask? I see you, raising your eyebrows as you imagine a hefty textbook full of convoluted academic stuff that you definitely do not have time and probably do not have inclination to read. 

You know what? Theology isn’t always like that. 

The more I study theology, the more I love it. At its core, theology is the study of God and all things in relation to Him. That doesn’t have to be hard or absurdly academic, does it?  

Why study theology? This is the question we asked at the beginning of my Systematic Theology class. The answer? Theology teaches us more about God which leads to worship. When I learn some new and amazing truth about God, it causes me to look on Him with more awe and wonder than before. To praise Him more. To love Him more. In short, theology leads to doxology. 

Obviously, fiction that contains lengthy dialogue in which characters postulate on the nature of God would be a little out of place. So instead of telling the readers about theology, I prefer to use the story to show them. The themes of my books convey deep theological concepts (things I’ve already struggled and prayed through) which, Lord willing, escort the reader toward worship.

Beautiful and theological. Sounds kind of stuffy and pompous, maybe? That’s where this third idea comes in.  

Beautiful words and deep themes do not make a book hard to read. Can we agree on that? They make it more edifying. I mean, look at Narnia! There are some pretty tough theological themes in some of those books (regeneration, sacrifice, governmental obedience, sovereignty, sanctification), but we don’t think about that. Instead, we see the story. 

There’s a reason that Jesus used parables in much of his teaching. These stories helped make truths more digestible for normal people who might have been intimidated by “theology” or fancy religion stuff. Jesus’ teaching is very accessible in its simplicity, to the point that even a child can understand the way to the kingdom of heaven. 

Books that are beautiful, theological, and accessible fulfill this same purpose. To help people understand God more deeply whilst refreshing them with a beautiful story. Not in an obvious way. Let them enjoy the book because it’s a good book, then realize what’s happened in their heart only after they’ve finished reading.

Have you read any good books that were beautiful, theological, and accessible? Let me know in the comments!