What Does it Mean?

A few days ago a man called me from the Norwalk Reflector, a newspaper here in Ohio where we're visiting family and friends.  He interviewed me over the phone for an article in the paper, asking questions about my book, human trafficking, how long I had lived in Ohio, etc.

Then he mentioned that he'd heard my book, Stolen Woman, was written from a Christian perspective.

"Is that correct?" he clarified.

"Definitely," I said.

Then he paused, and after the silence said, "What . .  does . . . that mean?"

Silence. 

I was stunned, unprepared for those four words placed into such a question.  My mind scrambled for words to answer. 

What does it mean that I wrote this book from a Christian perspective? 

I tried to think of a good answer as the silence extended through the phone.  It was not just the things left out that make a book Christian, as some descriptions I've read explain: no drinking, no drugs, no sex.  No, it is so much more than that.

It is not just what is left out, but what is put in.  For me, writing from a Christian perspective means that Jesus Christ is over all, and in all.  Life is incomplete without a relationship with God, and all things in this life should carry His involvement.

Now, I didn't tell the reporter all of that.  It went by quickly, but I think I told him about how a trafficked girl needs more than just her circumstances changed.  That rescuing her from something bad isn't enough.  For many of them, were they to return home, they would not be accepted by their family or community.  Or perhaps the person who sold her the first time might sell her again.  Being rescued does not always mean being given hope.

So I said that they need not just to be rescued from something bad, but to something good, and in my opinion, the best gift you can give someone is Jesus.  Jesus, who will be with her no matter what happens to her in the future.  Giving Jesus means giving hope.

I doubt I articulated it very well, but hopefully my point came across.

And as I sit here this morning thinking on it, I can't help but apply the question to more than writing.  I care about writing from a Christian perspective, but what about my life?  Do I make sure I am living from a Christian perspective?  So much so that people can tell the difference?  Not just because of what is left out, but what is added to my life?

Do people see my relationship with God as one that comes out when nothing else works?  Or do they see me walking alongside my God daily, keeping His presence close to my side, keeping Him involved in everything from the small desires to the big needs?

I cared about writing my book from a Christian perspective.  However, even more so, I want my life to be from Christian perspective, so that when others "read" my story, they read of the Savior I love.

How about you? 

Would you say your book is written from a Christian perspective?

And if you say yes,  what . . . does . . . that mean?