“You have to decide whether you want to be a pastor or a prophet,” he said, “because prophets don’t live very long.”

My answer was unequivocal. “I want to be a prophet.”

We had met for lunch to “talk things over.” He was a denominational church leader, and I was an editor for the denominational magazine. He was older and more experienced and wiser than I was. Apparently, some things I had written or selected for publication had ruffled some feathers, and he was concerned that I might lose my job.

By his definition, a pastor’s job is to bring comfort and encouragement. That is true, but any pastor properly doing his job must also confront sin and speak uncomfortable truths. And the prophets I have read in the Bible brought comfort and encouragement as well as condemnation and judgment. Both things are needed.

So, while I took my friend’s advice into consideration, I continued to occasionally rock the boat. (As Kipling said, as a man, you should “trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.”) My goal was not to cause trouble, just to tell the truth. I never worried about how what I wrote and edited would impact me but only about how it would impact the readers. I was concerned about what was good and necessary for them, not what was good for me.

In the end, I lasted nineteen years as a denominational magazine editor, far longer than most pastors stay in a church. I finally wrote something that upset enough people that I lost my job. But I don’t regret for a moment what I wrote. It was something that I was convinced needed to be said. And I had written things that could have gotten me fired much earlier in my career. I felt blessed to have lasted so long.

I have maintained the same attitude now that I am a freelance writer. I no longer have a job to lose, but I can still upset and disturb people. However, as Tommy Smothers said, “Maybe some people need to be disturbed.” And I suppose I could be sued—if I was a more prominent writer (and a wealthier one).

The thing is: As a writer, it is part of the job description to take risks. As a writer, if you are focused on losing your job, you aren’t doing your job. You can’t change the world by playing it safe.