I would never conversationally tell anyone that I’m a writer. I write sometimes, sure. But I know brilliant men and women who are incredible communicators. I’m a wife, a mom, and a full-time biblical counselor at a local church, in that order. I spend an enormous amount of time meeting with hurting families, troubled women, and in serious situations that are often a matter of life and death as people come before God with their sin and suffering. But, I’ve found that to be faithful in the things God has given me to do, it’s helpful for me to work at writing.

A recent Twitter conversation among writers sparked several really good articles about writing, building a platform, and branding. One sentence in particular made me especially grateful for the slew of people keeping me in check as I live and do ministry:

“The motivation of our hearts and the goals of our work, like in any profession or pursuit, are ultimately what make our efforts sinfully self-seeking or righteously God-glorifying.”

I don’t know Chris Martin from Millennial Evangelical, but he’s spot on.

I would never conversationally tell anyone that I’m a writer. I write sometimes, sure. But I know brilliant men and women who are incredible communicators. I’m a wife, a mom, and a full-time biblical counselor at a local church, in that order. I spend an enormous amount of time meeting with hurting families, troubled women, and in serious situations that are often a matter of life and death as people come before God with their sin and suffering. But, I’ve found that to be faithful in the things God has given me to do, it’s helpful for me to work at writing. When I write, I become more faithful in personal ministry. And when I’m in ministry, I become more faithful in what I write.

As the discussion on branding and platforming has unfolded, how can we help one another to heed the ton-load of wisdom in these short articles? If Christian writers shouldn’t be seeking to build up self, then what should they be doing? We ought to be exalting Jesus and building up others (Phil 2:3), but how can we tell if our writing is doing that?

To answer these questions, we must be able to honestly answer why we’re writing in the first place.

Here are four sets of questions to help Christian writers discern their hearts.

Do you value popularity over faithful content? Does wanting a platform control your content?

I love being a biblical counselor—honestly, I think it’s the best job on the planet. It’s hard and it can be stressful, but I get to watch God redeem unthinkable situations. But, I absolutely must always choose content over popularity in the counseling room; only God-breathed content has power to change lives (2 Tim 3:15-17). For instance, helping a woman live out 1 Peter 3:1-6 is relationally uncomfortable, but 1 Peter 3 has eternal value! My personal popularity is only about fleeting, selfish moments. Writing should be no different.

Writing is a gift that can help us minister Christ to one another, but it’s never about making us popular for our own sake (Gal 2:20). Will people read more of an author’s work if they believe him/her to be likable (1 Cor 9:19-23)? Maybe, but Christian writers must not exchange personal popularity at the cost of making Christ’s name known (Is 12:4).

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