Ashley Kim didn’t expect her freshman year to include winning second place in TGC’s 2022 Essay Contest for Young Adults. But her love of writing and her faith fused to create her beautiful essay “I’m a Gen Zer, and I believe the Bible is Inerrant.” (She also read her essay out loud for SOLA, which you can find on our YouTube or Podcast feed.)
SOLA Network’s Aaron Lee spoke with Ashley about her essay and her love for writing. Available on YouTube and Podcasts. We hope their conversation will be encouraging to you. We also encourage you to share this with other writers!
Editor’s Note: Below is a lightly edited automated transcript of their conversation. There may be typos or grammatical errors.
Aaron Lee: Hi, everyone. This is Aaron, and I am here today with Ashley Kim. Ashley, thank you for reading your essay for SOLA Network. How’d you feel when I asked you to read it? (laughing)
Ashley Kim: To be honest, I was a little bit reluctant just because I’m a little bit camera shy. (laughing) But I think it was helpful to just think that this isn’t, you know, something for me. But if it can be an encouragement to others, that would be reason enough to do it.
Aaron Lee: Was that the first time that you read one of your pieces before?
Ashley Kim: It was.
Aaron Lee: Well, I’m glad to be the first one, and I think you did a great job.
Ashley Kim: Thank you. (laughing) I’m glad it wasn’t terrible.
Aaron Lee: No, it was great. It was great. Would you please introduce yourself, and then also talk about the TGC essay contest? How did you learn about it? What was the process to actually write your piece, entering, and winning it? Congrats, by the way.
Ashley Kim: Thank you. I’m a college student, like literally in my first semester of college, in Columbia, and I just like writing. So I don’t have any degree yet. But yeah. About the TGC contest. I’m a reader of TGC. But my mom is a big TGC reader as well. And so she actually saw the contest announcement before I did, and she sent it to me.
And there were a variety of prompts that the TGC editors wanted, like other Gen Zers to write about. And so what I ended up writing about was the inerrancy of Scripture, and how that both convicts us of sin. But it’s also very good news for us as believers, because we have such solid promises to cling to. But some of the other things that I considered writing about were why I love my local church, and penal substitution, and Gen Z’s desire for justice. So those are some other ideas floating around in my head. But ultimately, I went with biblical inerrancy, which I think just because it ties into my personal testimony. And so I felt like I had something more personal to say about that.
Aaron Lee: You wrote a little bit about that in your essay, I think, can you share it for everybody here just a little bit?
Ashley Kim: Yeah, so kind of how that biblical inerrancy connects to my testimony is that I actually struggled with an eating disorder like a few years ago. And that was particularly hard for me just because it wasn’t necessarily noticing, or recognizing that the desires and the idolatry behind an eating disorder was sinful, I was able to recognize that. But really, you know, the hard part of change is being able to turn away from those things. And so the Bible both brought me bad news in the sense that it convicted me of my sin, and showed me the hopeless state that I was in. But it was also very good news, because I learned that God’s grace is sufficient for me. And I could trust that because Scripture is inerrant, and I really would not have any reason or any security to change if I didn’t know that the Bible is inerrant, and all of God’s promises will come true.
Aaron Lee: Did you always see faith and writing intersecting? Because I feel that you have a really firm grasp on it. Obviously, you’re still learning, going to school. But it sounds like you know how to put your faith into words. Did you always see it that way?
Ashley Kim: I don’t know. Um, I think definitely as more… I’ve always liked writing. But I would say like in elementary and middle school, it was like a lot of fiction, a lot of like writing fantasy stories. And so I didn’t really write about spiritual things. But I think just as my faith became more important to me, as the gospel became more real to me, it just started to come out in my writing.
I think writers, in general, we want to write about what matters to us. And so as God and the gospel became more precious and more beautiful to me, I just naturally started to gravitate toward writing more about that. I think also just realizing, like similar to journaling, writing about my faith kind of helps me reflect and see how God has been faithful to me in specific ways. So I think like anyone who’s had to journal or like write out your testimony or write out the gospel, it forces us to think more deeply. And so it’s not only something that I enjoy, but it helps me articulate my thoughts and reflect.
Aaron Lee: Yeah. I like your website, by the way. I went through a lot of it, maybe all of it, but I went through a lot. And I like your articles, they’re like, they’re not like journal entries. I don’t think they don’t read like journal entries, but I feel like they are snippets from your life. Is that true?
Ashley Kim: I think so. It’s kind of like a little bit more unfiltered, obviously. Because it’s just like my little corner of the internet. So I don’t have to hold myself to any kind of standard. Yeah, I think with spiritual things with talking about the Bible, I try to be a little more careful about what I put out there. Just because I know there can be a lot of misconceptions about understanding certain scripture. And I don’t want to mislead people, especially on something that important. But yeah, I think so. It’s definitely a little bit more unfiltered, like what I’m currently reflecting on.
Aaron Lee: Yeah, I enjoyed it. You write poetry. You write fiction. You had a category for creative nonfiction? And then like, even considering, like your blog articles, right? Would you consider one over the other? What’s your, like, main type of writing? And then also, do you see value in being able to write across such a broad range of genres?
Ashley Kim: Yeah, that’s a really interesting question. Because to be honest, I don’t really prefer one over the other. I think, honestly, that’s because I think I’m still like a fairly young writer. So I’ve kind of explored different areas, but I haven’t quite settled down yet. I think like through grade school I wrote a lot of fiction. And then in high school, I wrote more poetry, mostly because poetry is shorter, and so I had less time. But it’s just also like more economical language, so it requires a lot more attention to like your use of words. And then more recently, nonfiction, I have a feeling that I’m turning more to nonfiction because as I get older, I have less of an imagination. (laughing) But I do think also, it’s part of like, I actually have somewhat coherent thoughts about my own life that I can present to the world. I don’t have to make it all up.
I do think there’s value in being able to write across multiple genres. Just thinking about writing poetry, it really forces you to consider the aesthetic qualities of language. So really thinking about diction, word choice, you have to be very intentional about those choices. But narrative, at the same time, it appears in every other form of writing. So even articles and essays, we have to have anecdotes and examples. And that can be very powerful. So I think all of those elements are still really important for all types of writing. And I think, notably, the Bible mixes genres too. You have historical books, but there’s also poetry. And then we have epistles, prophecies, narratives, and like, even within books, like I think Jonah has some, like poetry as well. And so there are different purposes to different types of language. And I think it’s important that we use, or at least, like read the whole range. I don’t know if I could settle on one though.
Aaron Lee: I like how you’re super articulate, too. So you’re not just good at writing words, but you’re good at speaking. It’s clear to me that you’ve been kind of focused on words for a big part of your life. How would you, I guess, give some advice to churches and pastors in terms of courting writers, and then how can writers serve their church? I don’t I don’t know, like too many churches that have a writing ministry. I know for our church, like, we have a blog, you know, but like, it’s hard to get people to write articles. And there’s not even a lot of people that I don’t think would write for our church blog. I know that we sometimes need copy for things like social media, but I’m sure there’s other ways and other ideas that you have. How can churches and writers can, I guess, serve together? What would you have to say?
Ashley Kim: Yeah, I will say my church has been very encouraging to me not, because of like inherent structures in the church, like we don’t have any writing programs. But I think like the community has been very supportive and gracious, to like, even read my stuff, or like, reach out when they see something published and be very encouraging about it. And so I think even just like that informally, like building other writers up, because it is a very difficult field to get into. And I know a lot of writers feel like they have to split their time between their practical day job versus their writing passion. And so being able to be encouraged by people in the church I think will encourage them to use their voices more.
To be honest, I’m not too sure about ideas about writers within the local church. Obviously, organizations like SOLA or TGC are able to disseminate writing within like the bigger universal church. So like all believers, not just a local congregation. But I think like within the local church, it would be like helpful to, I think, again, just going back to like, informally, like writers who have that gift of language, even things like being able to serve by like sending letters or texts to encourage other people are ways that that gift can be used. But I think also, since writers work so closely with words, potentially or hopefully that makes writers into more insightful readers, and hopefully, that makes writers into better readers of the Bible as well. Or other books as well that could be helpful. So like being able to share those insights, articulately, is a way to build up other believers as well.
Aaron Lee: I can totally see that happening. Would you mind telling us a little bit about your life as a student at Columbia University? And then I have a couple more questions, but I want to hear about your life first. What’s it like being a student there?
Ashley Kim: Um, I think it’s, it’s honestly, it’s very mixed. And I’ve only been here for less than a semester. So you also had to take it with a grain of salt. But I think like other secular universities, there’s definitely a very post-Christian culture. I don’t think that’s just Columbia. But generally, colleges in general tend to go more liberal, which can be hard at sometimes at times, it feels isolating. In one of my classes, we’ve been reading some biblical texts. And while I’m really thankful to get an opportunity to share directly about the Bible, it can also be discouraging to hear like other students and their negative views of the Bible, and a lot of them see it as outdated or bigoted. And so just having to reckon with that can be difficult.
But that being said, I actually genuinely enjoy all of my classes. And I feel like it is an environment where people want to learn. And something that someone in one of the campus ministries that I’m a part of one of our staff members, she was saying that college is a really special time because the job of students is just solely to learn and to explore. And so I’ve been trying to internalize that instead of focusing so much on things like grades and performance. And I think being able to be in an environment where there’s so many resources for education has been really actually exciting for me and getting to like, have discussion classes, like I never got that in high school. And so I’ve actually been really enjoying being a college student.
Aaron Lee: I’m happy for you. I think it is definitely going to be an awesome time for you know, I’m a fan of your work, Ashley, and so I look forward to seeing you growing and also publishing more just being out there. Okay, so a couple more questions. Did you ever have any fear of publishing your work online? And then, would you ever consider, like writing to be a type of ministry? For you or for just, you know, other people? And then would you have any advice for young writers just to get their feet wet?
Ashley Kim: Yeah, for fear of publishing online. I think more than the aspect of it being online, I have more fear of rejection. And I think that is such a key part of being a writer. So I’ve had to face it, which is a good thing. But just, I think, having to submit even not like poetry or other submissions that I’ve had to do, you get a lot of rejections. But I’ve started to realize that for all writers, it pretty much is that way, like your ratio of rejections to acceptances is usually much bigger on the rejection side. And so I have more fears about that, probably, and actually getting published online is something to really celebrate. And so I actually, I don’t have much fears about my name being online. I would say, specifically related to writing Christian content, I have a little more fears about that. Just because I realized that I am also a young Christian, and I don’t want to mislead anyone, I don’t want to present myself as any kind of authority. I also want to be careful of my own soul becoming prideful about my name being attached to this piece of writing on the internet. And so all of those things are kind of my fears attached to publishing online. But I do find it really gratifying also, to see my work out there.
And then if writing is a type of ministry, I do think so. I hope that my writing can be an encouragement to other people. And I know that other people’s writing has definitely been an encouragement to me, like just all the sites that I really enjoy, like TGC and Desiring God and Tim Challies’ blog. Those have really provided so many good resources to me that have been more than just entertainment to read, but have really helped me grow and given me resources to go deeper into the gospel and become a better reader of the Bible. And so I really do value that and I find it a privilege that I could potentially be able to encourage other believers.
And then for other young writers, I think, more generally, for writing, I think the classic advice of read a lot and write a lot still rings true. And I feel like that’s kind of a cop out. But I don’t think there’s any shortcuts. So just be patient. And sometimes I get discouraged because I can tell that there are shortcomings in my writing, but I also don’t have all day to read and write. And I think a lot of young writers face that too. Because we all have other responsibilities that feel like they’re getting in the way. But just realizing that first of all your current responsibilities right now are what God has called you to be faithful to. And if that means you only have time to write for 30 minutes a week, or however long you have, that’s okay, because that’s truly where you’re meant to be. And then secondly, I would say, just enjoy the process. And this is advice that I need to internalize as well, because I’m a very goal oriented person. But to just enjoy the process of writing, because you’re never going to arrive at a place where you think that there’s no more improvement necessary or nothing else that you want to write. So write what you want to write, not what you feel like you should write. I think delight and wonder are good things, and God has given them to us and writing is a way for us to reflect on his faithfulness to us. And so I think it’s something that should be honed and should be stewarded, but also just something to enjoy.
Aaron Lee: That’s awesome. Ashley, that’s great. That’s really good. That’s practical, and it’s helpful. You’re wise for your age. Thanks, Ashley, for your time. And thank you for sharing your words with us and your advice and a little bit about your life, too. Thank you. I’m encouraged by your words.
Ashley Kim: Thank you. I appreciate it.