Here’s something I wasn’t exactly expecting when I read my Bible a few days ago: That I would be inspired to hone my craft of writing.

But God ministers in unexpected ways. While I have enrolled in multiple writing classes, there’s nothing like the Word to instruct us and lend a depth of meaning to our pursuits.

If you’re a writer or interested in the art of writing, you too can glean some lessons from Scripture.

Let’s first set the context: In the book of Acts, we see the early church growing and Gentiles being added to their numbers. But the “rules of engagement” were not completely clear. It was tempting, especially for Jewish Christians, to insert their personal “take” on faith. Acts 15 reports that certain Jewish Christians were teaching the new Gentile believers that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved.

That’s where the Jerusalem Council comes in. This council of apostles and elders deliberated on the views of these legalistic Jewish Christians. They then write a letter to the new Gentile Christians on the rites and rituals being imposed on them. Here’s how the letter reads:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.  So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:  You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell. (Acts 15: 23-29)

Seems like a simple enough note to the Gentile believers, right? Here are some lessons in writing we can distill from this letter:

Lesson 1: Know your audience

Every writing class will teach you this. But the writers of this letter to the Gentiles really knew their audience because they put themselves in their shoes. They didn’t just know their ethnicity and gender, they understood that these newly-imposed regulations were “troubling [their] minds.” As writers, we need to actively practice the skill of empathy. Ask: What is on my reader’s mind? Do I understand the cultural landscape that they are grappling with? Do I “get” their pain? Am I sensitive to their insecurities?

Lesson 2: Don’t talk down to your reader

No one actually wants to hear a lecture (unless, of course, they’re college students who have paid thousands of dollars and a kidney to hear lectures by qualified professionals). In real life, we don’t want people talking “at” us. We want people talking “to” us in a way that is endearing and yet without sugar-coating the truth. The tone of the letter from the Jerusalem council is concern, not condescension. When you and I write with the intention of communicating the truth in love, it becomes apparent to the reader. And the bonus? The reader listens when we don’t talk down to them.

Lesson 3: Put your money where your mouth is

The Jerusalem Council didn’t just dash off a letter to the Gentile Christians. They sent two men (Judas and Silas) to come alongside these new believers. Of course, as writers we can’t hand-deliver notes to our readers because that would just be impossible, not to mention plain weird and possibly illegal. But we need to back up what we write with how we live. I find that when I write about patience or love or contentment, God gives me ample opportunity to practice what I preach. As a writer, it is easy to sit in my ivory tower of thoughts and be a stellar armchair Christian. The question is: do we live out what we write?

Lesson 4: Let the Holy Spirit speak through you

I absolutely love this line in the letter: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”  We need to lean into what God is saying to us through the Holy Spirit and communicate what is on His heart. But we are not merely pens in the hands of a Mighty God. He also uses our minds and faculties and talents to speak to others. Our content ought to be steered by the Spirit and it should also resonate with us. I want to read what I write and say, “That seems good to me. Thank You for giving me those words, Lord.” You get to communicate in partnership with God in a way that is uniquely you.

Lesson 5: Let the intent be to encourage and not to burden

There’s no question that we are called to speak the truth. In the letter, the Jerusalem Council proposed some do’s and don’ts for the new believers to follow. The intent of those rules was to promote unity in the body of Christ, and to bridge the cultural divide between Jews and Gentiles. After outlining the practices, the letter gently states “You will do well to avoid these things..” What a lesson for us. May our intent as writers be to communicate with clarity, but never guilt-trip anyone into a right pattern of behavior. As Christian writers may we ask ourselves: Am I being gracious in my writing? Is my writing glorifying God? Does my work promote unity in the church?

The new believers read the letter and Scripture reports that “they were glad for its encouraging content.” While it’s never our aim to flatter our readers or dilute the message simply to encourage, may we write the truth in a way that honors God and makes the reader glad. May God use our writing for His glory.