Why I Still Write For LifeWay

….as long as they’ll have me.

I didn’t have the opportunity to write for LifeWay much in 2014. And I’m not sure what 2015 will look like. It has been a goal of mine to write some of their curriculum, but as of yet I haven’t gotten my foot in the door.

So I still write for LifeWay. Given my open letter from yesterday, that might be surprising to some. Why would I write for LifeWay when they are profiting from error? So, I thought I’d explain why I write for LifeWay and why I still love the people at LifeWay despite my disagreement with some of the books they sell and promote.

But I still write for LifeWay and likely will…

It isn’t about the money. It isn’t about building platform. You can throw those to the wind. I write for LifeWay for these reasons:

1. There are many people who I trust working for LifeWay. I believe there are many people there who are biblically faithful and share the same vision that I do.
2. At this point I believe the best way to promote change is to write solid material for LifeWay. I’d rather try to promote change and reform from within than take my passion for writing Christ-centered material elsewhere.
3. I really do love the direction LifeWay curriculum is going. Most curriculum is terrible. LifeWay is doing really good stuff with Christ-centered teaching and I want to be a part of this. My hope is that things like The Gospel Project will eventually win the day and they’ll be known for that instead of selling barely Christian literature.
4. I don’t buy that Ed Stetzer, Thom Rainer, and other men are sell-outs who are just looking for a quick buck. I don’t know them personally, but there I people I trust who do know them. These men are in a position that I am not, making decisions that I do not have to make. I believe they should pull the plug on a handful of books they sell at LifeWay. But I also realize that the situation is a bit more complex than this. And there is even complexities that I’m not privy to. I trust the leadership and the trajectory of LifeWay.

So for these reasons I continue to write for LifeWay—as long as they’ll still have me. I consider it an honor to write for anyone, and I’m blessed to write for a company that consistently encourages me to write Christ-centered material. The day they ask me to write something that is in error is the day I’ll cut ties—but until then—I’ll continue writing for LifeWay.