by Rena Sherwood

Created on: December 11, 2007   Last Updated: March 15, 2010

There are many opportunities for the freelance writer or a clear thinker to write for inspirational or Christian e-zines and magazines, even if the word "Christian" makes you cringe.  You can write in a way that encourages change within the Christian community to not be so rigid and illogical. You can't do this as an out and out attack.  You have to be far more subtle.  Remember, your readers have brains and feelings.  Give them the benefit of the doubt that they will be able to think for themselves.

The Hard Way

Some freelancers argue that you should write out and out attacks against Christianity and send them to Christian periodicals and websites.  They don't get published, but MAN, do they get the benefit of name recognition!  No publicity is bad publicity, remember, especially for a freelance writer.  Unless the editors that read your attacks happen to move on to secular magazines you really do care about appearing in. 

They say if you want to write articles that completely fool Christian periodicals into buying them, and you aren't a Christian, just approach the articles as if you were writing fiction.  Make up a Super Christian character in your head (you won’t have to think hard, because Super Christian Wannabes are all over).  Then, write your articles in the voice of that character.

Super Christian should all the right things Christians want to hear, sprinkled liberally with Bible verses, even if the verses are completely incomprehensible and irrelevant for modern human beings. Talk about the Lord in a way that's reminiscent of a teenager having his or her first crush. And you have to say Lord instead of God.

Heck - anything for a byline and a paycheck, right?  Wrong.

The Easy Way

But I think there's another way for non-Christian writers to write for Christian publications.  You don’t have to be a Christian in order to write for a Christian website or periodical.  You do have to be familiar with the basic tenants Christianity, however and not just with Christians.  (There's a big difference.) 

Never write out and out condemning Christians, Christ or a particular Christian denomination.  Remember, in reading Jesus' teachings, He urges His followers not to condemn anyone.  This is advice seen in many major (and minor) faiths.  Don’t immediately paint Christians to be illogical and bad just because they are Christian. 

In that way, you can write more in the mindset of the average Christian – the person who tries to do they best they can and likes to read.  They are just like you, except they do Christian stuff. 

For example, instead of writing an article condemning the building of new churches as wasteful when there are so many hungry people in the world, you could write about how to renovate old buildings to be used as churches, how to find buildings to rent for worship services and mention about using any kitchen facilities to help feed the poor of your neighborhood, even if it's only one day a month.

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