My honest thoughts about being a Christian author

When I was in middle school (probably around 2014), I was introduced to a narrative that I would come to wrestle with from then into my college years, and even now, as I approach two years post-grad. Some rapper, I’m not sure who, claimed that they weren’t a “Christian rapper.” Instead, they were “a rapper who was Christian.”

At the time, I was rock-solid in my faith, but still a child with a childlike understanding of how faith intersected with my identity. My whole identity was rooted in two things: being a student and a Christian. This is mainly because my biggest priorities were school and church. 

Because of that, this statement made me furious. I interpreted “a rapper who was Christian” as someone placing their art and gift above their faith. I’m sure they were saying that they didn’t want their art and talents to be held to a different standard since they were Christians. But this was deeper for me. As someone whose identity was deeply wrapped in faith, I didn’t understand how someone could separate their art from their faith, mainly because it was impossible for me to do.

In college, I decided to go all in on pursuing writing. I declared myself a Creative Writing major, not caring what my future career would be. Because of this, my identity changed. Really, my identity had already become more complicated because of different life experiences. Whereas in middle school I was only a student and a Christian, now in college, I realized that I was many things. I was a black woman, a daughter, and a sister. But most importantly, I was a writer and a Christian. Most of my thoughts and time revolved around these two pillars of my identity. 

So as I began to write more stories, experimenting with non-fiction essays, speculative fiction, horror, and sci-fi, none of which had or featured Christian themes, the question came back to my mind.

Do I want to be known as a Christian writer, or a writer who is Christian?

If I’m a Christian writer, then that would pigeonhole me into one genre. I felt that I would be limited to only writing about my faith. But if I’m a writer who is Christian, then I could write a variety of stories that may not necessarily highlight my faith. Being Christian was just another aspect of my identity, and sometimes, the two may not have anything to do with each other.

I wrestled with how I wanted to refer to myself. I thought about my middle school self and what she would say. “How can you separate the art from the maker? If the maker is Christian, then that art is Christian.” But now, things were more complicated. I thought about the appeal of a book that was written by an author who was Christian over one written by a Christian author. Would I get more readers if I were an author who was Christian, or would I get more from being a Christian author?

I discussed this mental dilemma with a friend of mine, and she quoted an artist saying, “Does a tree, that is created by God and gives Him glory just from swaying in the wind, call itself a Christian tree? Or is it a tree just doing what God created it to do?”

I think about this often.

So now, two years post-grad, I’ve published my debut novel. This book, unlike the others I’ve written, has themes of faith and even features God as a character. I was afraid to call it a Christian Fantasy because, again, I didn’t want it to be limited. I didn’t want people to judge its quality or contents just by the label. But after some thought, I decided to embrace the Christian Fantasy label. After all, the biggest part of building a reader base is being very specific about what the book is and who it’s written for. I wrote this book for all readers, but I know that readers who are Christian may enjoy it more because it aligns with their faith and beliefs. So taking on the label was a marketing necessity.

But Christian Fantasy is just the genre. Do I still think about labeling myself? I do. Do I want to be a Christian Author, or author who is Christian? I believe that this may change over time, but I’ve become comfortable with the idea that I’m a Christian Author. My faith is inextricably tied to my writing. I pray before I write. I make sure that God is involved in every part of the publishing process. And somehow, God has used my writing to build my faith. God is teaching me how to rest in Him and trust in Him through the writing process. At the end of the day, I believe that writing is a God-given gift. The two pillars of my identity, Christian and Writer, cannot be separated with a “who is.” 

But these are just my thoughts on the subject. I don’t blame anyone who would call themselves anything otherwise. As a matter of fact, I’m learning that many artists and entertainers are Christians, and they just don’t advertise it. I don’t care about what they do. I don’t care about what you do. I do care that when people see me, when they see my books, they also see God. Because at the end of the day, isn’t that what matters?