From Edie: Heidi Gray McGill helps us wrestle with the question of whether we're writing to please God or people? Discover how Christian writers can share biblical truth with clarity and conviction while reaching readers in a changing culture without compromise.
Pleasing God vs. Pleasing People: How Christian Writers Can Share Truth in a Changing Culture
by Heidi Gray McGill
I remember sitting in our American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Charlotte meeting via Zoom, notebook open, expecting to walk away with a few helpful writing tips. Cindy Sproles always brings something thoughtful and practical, so I was ready to learn. What I heard that day stayed with me in a way I did not expect.
She shared research from the Barna Group about church attendance. In the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, the overwhelming majority of school-aged children attended church or Sunday school. Today, that reality has nearly reversed, with many children growing up having never stepped inside a church. For some, the only context they have for God’s name is hearing it used carelessly.
I sat there, heart heavy, realizing how much the world had shifted, not just culturally but spiritually. That shift left me sitting with questions I could not shake. What am I writing, who am I writing for, and most importantly, why?
Who Am I Really Writing To?
For years, I understood my primary audience. I write historical romance, often set in the late 1800s, where faith expressions like prayer, hymn singing, and church life wove naturally into daily living. My readers, often women over fifty-five, understand that rhythm. It feels familiar and comfortable to them. Even if life has interrupted their own church attendance, the language of faith still feels like home.
But another question surfaced during that meeting.
What about the reader who doesn’t have that background? What about the thirty-five-year-old who picks up one of my books and has never heard the gospel explained in a way that makes sense? What about someone whose understanding of God comes more from cultural sayings than from Scripture?
Writing only within familiar language and ready-made understanding feels safe. But that’s where the tension begins.
Pleasing God or Staying Comfortable?
In First Thessalonians, Paul writes, “We speak, not to please man, but to please God… Nor did we seek glory from people” (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 6).
That isn’t a statement only about preaching. It reaches into every area of life, including the quiet, solitary work of writing.
If I’m honest, a subtle pull exists to please people. To write in a way that feels safe, to avoid anything that might confuse or challenge a reader unfamiliar with faith, and to soften truth so it lands more gently. But pleasing God does not always align with what feels comfortable.
It requires faith to trust that His truth, shared with care and clarity, is enough. It requires obedience to present Him as He is, not as culture reshapes Him to be. And it requires humility to recognize that the message is not mine to edit for approval.
Translating Truth Without Watering It Down
That day taught me something I hadn’t expected: writing for a broader audience does not mean diluting faith. It means becoming more intentional.
It means showing Christ in a way that is so real and so present that a reader who has never opened a Bible still encounters Him on the page. Instead of relying on church language, a writer can show what prayer looks like in a moment of desperation. Instead of referencing faith as a concept, reveal it through choices, through struggle, and through surrender.
Because many readers are not rejecting Christ. They simply do not know Him. And if we shape our writing only around those who already understand, we may unintentionally leave others standing at the edge, unable to step in.
Holding the Standard, Not Lowering It
There is a difference between meeting people where they are and becoming what the world expects.
We cannot change our worldview to match culture, but we can be thoughtful in how we communicate truth within it. We can choose words that invite rather than alienate, and stories that draw readers in rather than push them away, while still clinging to what is true.
That is where the calling feels both weighty and purposeful. Because ultimately, this isn’t about building a platform or reaching a wider audience for the sake of numbers. It is about being faithful with what God has entrusted to us.
The Question I Now Carry
That day Cindy didn’t provide our group with a checklist. She gave me something better—a question I now carry with me into every writing session.
Am I writing to be understood, or am I writing to be approved?
There is a difference. And I keep returning to that truth from 1 Thessalonians, not perfectly and not without wrestling, but with a growing desire to align my work with His purpose rather than my comfort.
Because at the end of the day, it is not the reader’s approval I want to hold on to.
It is His.
TWEETABLE
Heidi Gray McGill is a Selah Award finalist and five-time NEST Award-winning author of Christian historical and contemporary fiction. Her Discerning God’s Best series has earned over 3,500 five-star reviews on Amazon, where readers describe her work as “faith-filled fiction with flawed but lovable characters.” She began her writing journey in March 2020, after retirement, proving that God’s calling has no expiration date.
A sought-after encourager in the writing community, Heidi speaks and writes on the craft of storytelling, writing with biblical conviction, and reaching readers across generational and cultural divides. She is both independently and traditionally published, and she writes despite progressive vision loss, which has only sharpened her perspective on what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.
Connect with Heidi and receive a free prequel to her bestselling series at HeidiGrayMcGill.com. Christian Fiction. Relatable Characters. Life-changing Stories. Fusing Faith and Fiction™
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