Baptism of the Imagination, Part 7

KC: Your father's story was recounted in Time and Life and a movie was made out of it. How much did the media's involvement in his story affect your pursuit of a ministry grounded in communication?

WV: I don't think it did at all. But again, I think it comes back to gifting. God showed me early in my life that I had gifts in this area. It took a while for me to recognize or see the writing gift and seriously think about using that. The public speaking came more immediately and was more immediately obvious. I think there is an overlap between gifts and talents. I'm not sure they're identical, but spiritual gifting is often rooted in very human, natural talents, and some of that may very well be genetic. I had a father who was a great communicator. He wasn't really a writer like I am, though he wrote some books with help from other folks. He didn't have the patience to sit down and write a book--he was much more fast-paced than me and went around the world talking to large numbers of people. I have to look at how I am unique and different and try not to copy him. But I probably share some similar gifts. Being able to humbly and appropriately recognize that--that's what led to me doing certain things. It's fun to look back and realize I had a father who was able to reach a lot of people because of the way God put him in the right place at the right time. His story was broadcast through these different media, but I don't think that made me think that I would like to be involved in this or that type of media, per se; I think it was more about gifting.

KC: Is there anything else you would like to say to Taylor students?

WV: If you love to write, keep going at it or whatever it is you love to do. Don't let anyone discourage you or deter you from what you love and enjoy doing because God works through our desires. He plants desires in our hearts, and He wants to give us the desire of our hearts. You have to persevere at it. Like C. S. Lewis said, for him writing was like an itch, and when he had that itch it had to be scratched--he had to get it out. Whatever our gifting is, it works the same way, whether it is digging ditches or working with physical things, which I am absolutely no good at, at all. But whatever it is you are good at, you need to persevere with that--don't give up. There will be a way for you to use it, even though after college you will have to make money and support yourself too. But hopefully there will be a way your gifting can fit with your occupation.

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Will Vaus

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