THROW YOUR NETS OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE

Do you remember this Sunday school song?

Peter and James and John in the sailboat (3x)
Out on the beautiful sea.

They fished all night but they caught nothing.
Out on the beautiful sea.

Along came Jesus walking on the water.
Out on the beautiful sea.

He said, “Throw your nets over on the other side.”
Out on the beautiful sea.

The nets were filled with great big fishes.
Out on the beautiful sea.

Well, there I was singing it yesterday and clearly – like a spotlight had been shone on it—I realized that by choosing to write to a secular audience I had cast my net on to the other side of the boat.

Why should a Christian writer choose to write for a secular publisher?


In Jesus’ day, the gospel was only being preached to those who lived in and around the region of Israel. In our day, the books published by the Christian Book Assn are generally only read by Christians. Why is this?

• Christian Books are often preachy and pious
• Christian books are not worldly. Some Christians are simply so protective of their mind they avoid anything vaguely secular
• Christian books preach to the choir
• Some Christian writers are so inside the Christian worldview that they have no comprehension of how the unChristian world thinks.

I really feel as if God was speaking to me in this, telling me to be of good cheer. If our writing, however good, (and those fishermen were good!) has not brought fish into the boat…then we should consider fishing in other waters. So many Christian writers exist, and it’s good for we Christians to have books to read. And when they get to heaven, they will get a spiritual reward for their work. But how many people will they have saved from hell through their writing?

Also…many good Christian writers exist but they are having trouble getting published by the Christian publishing world. Is it possible God is telling them to cast their net in other waters? That’s a thought.