What We Ought to Be
Writing
I took a few blissful moments of relaxation before bed last
night to read “Religion and Literature,” an essay by T.S. Eliot. As I rested
back against the pillows, I was struck by the following quote. “It is our
business, as readers of literature, to know what we like. It is our business,
as Christians, as well as readers of literature, to know what we ought to
like.”
Sometimes we fail to see that there is a distinction between
what we like and what we ought to like. Our writing reflects this too. There is
the potential for a gap to form between what we write and what we ought to
write.
We’ve been given a challenge, “for the time is coming when
people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV).
Is what we write appealing to the passions of today alone or is it also
offering something more?
“What I believe to be incumbent upon all Christians is the
duty of maintaining consciously certain standards and criteria of criticism
over and above those applied by the rest of the world; and that by these
criteria and standards everything that we read must be tested” (“Religion and
Literature,” T.S. Eliot).
Let’s embrace our calling as both Christians and writers and
offer something more!
