Simon Dillon
1 min readJun 22, 2023

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Exactly. For instance, my study of "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22 verse 6) rather flipped the conventional interpretation on its head. It's not about telling a child what they should do in terms of following God's commandments to everyone, but about discerning what gifts God has given them, and encouraging them in that respect. For instance, it became apparent to my parents over time that I had writing skills and media talents, so they subtly encouraged me in that direction (not that I needed encouragement as it was extremely obvious).

By contrast, in the evangelical church in which I grew up, my education and career choices provoked endless disapproval, and occasional full-blown confrontations. I've noticed evangelical churches respect callings to ministry first and foremost, then vocations such as medicine, teaching, etc, then business, and right at the bottom of the list, media, entertainment, and the arts. I think it has improved in recent years, but certainly when I grew up, the prejudice that media equated to all things ungodly was a genuine barrier I had to overcome.

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Simon Dillon
Simon Dillon

Written by Simon Dillon

Novelist and Short Story-ist. Film and Book Lover. If you cut me, I bleed celluloid and paper pulp. Blog: www.simondillonbooks.wordpress.com

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