Christian Fiction...
Does it Matter?
A conversation with a friend the other day ……
“Why do you write books?”
“Because God told me to.” I said, relating the first thing that popped into my head.
“He specifically told you to write books?” He asked skeptically.
“Well yeah….kind of…”
“Why? Do you really think God cares if you write a book?”
So I won’t relay the whole conversation and how I described my beliefs about God’s personal love, and care for each of us, and what we do…..but the conversation did make me think about writing books. Specifically Christian fiction – since that’s my genre.
Are they at all helpful to the Kingdom of God, and if so how? I knew that I definitely believed they were helpful (at least good ones), but I thought it was worth thinking about why, or perhaps how they were helpful.
Think about this for a moment…..
The Bible says that the Kingdom of God suffers violence, but the violent take it by force. (Mt11)
“Why do you write books?”
“Because God told me to.” I said, relating the first thing that popped into my head.
“He specifically told you to write books?” He asked skeptically.
“Well yeah….kind of…”
“Why? Do you really think God cares if you write a book?”
So I won’t relay the whole conversation and how I described my beliefs about God’s personal love, and care for each of us, and what we do…..but the conversation did make me think about writing books. Specifically Christian fiction – since that’s my genre.
Are they at all helpful to the Kingdom of God, and if so how? I knew that I definitely believed they were helpful (at least good ones), but I thought it was worth thinking about why, or perhaps how they were helpful.
Think about this for a moment…..
The Bible says that the Kingdom of God suffers violence, but the violent take it by force. (Mt11)
It also says that whoever cannot receive the Kingdom as a little child cannot enter in. (Mk 10)
So which is it? Do we take the Kingdom by force? Or do we enter in as a child?
Well of course both are true – even though they seem somewhat contradictory and in tension.
The answer likely lies in the lesson the Lord is trying to teach us.
So which is it? Do we take the Kingdom by force? Or do we enter in as a child?
Well of course both are true – even though they seem somewhat contradictory and in tension.
The answer likely lies in the lesson the Lord is trying to teach us.
There are some things we will never have until we exercise our authority as a believer. And until we learn who we are in Christ, what the Bible says we can have, what the Bible says we can do, and the authority and anointing on our life as a child of God, there are aspects of the Kingdom we will never experience, and ground that we will never take from the enemy.
(You might want to read that paragraph a couple more times slowly. I think it's important.)
Likewise – there are times that the only way we will ever enter into new realms is if we just receive from God as a child. The lesson here is not one of our authority in Christ, but rather our identity as an heir; and the fact that we have an inheritance, and that it can’t be received by any work. An inheritance doesn’t come to us because we deserve it rather it comes because it is given to us.
The link between these somewhat tenuous positions however is faith. Faith is often violent as we exercise our authority, beat back the attacks of the enemy, and take ground for the Kingdom by force. Faith can also be quiet, as we sit back and receive our inheritance from Abba Father, from Daddy.
So where does Christian fiction come into the picture?
Good Christian fiction, defined as a story that helps build one’s faith, fits easily into this picture. For so many, the realities of this physical world, and our physical experiences, have long ago become the defining boundaries of any spiritual experience we could ever hope for.
Likewise – there are times that the only way we will ever enter into new realms is if we just receive from God as a child. The lesson here is not one of our authority in Christ, but rather our identity as an heir; and the fact that we have an inheritance, and that it can’t be received by any work. An inheritance doesn’t come to us because we deserve it rather it comes because it is given to us.
The link between these somewhat tenuous positions however is faith. Faith is often violent as we exercise our authority, beat back the attacks of the enemy, and take ground for the Kingdom by force. Faith can also be quiet, as we sit back and receive our inheritance from Abba Father, from Daddy.
So where does Christian fiction come into the picture?
Good Christian fiction, defined as a story that helps build one’s faith, fits easily into this picture. For so many, the realities of this physical world, and our physical experiences, have long ago become the defining boundaries of any spiritual experience we could ever hope for.
Though we read about what happened in the Bible, the stories are so far from our own frame of reference and experience, that we find it easier to explain why they wouldn’t, or shouldn’t happen today, than we do to actually try and believe that they could or should happen today.
It is in this shadowy area of doubt, theology, rationalization, and hope that good, faith-building fiction can become a bridge between reality and possibility.
If we read about miracles in a non-fiction, or doctrinal book, we really have two choices. We can accept the doctrine and force it to fit into our own lexicon of faith and experience, or we can reject it as misrepresentation or misunderstanding at best, or heresy at worst.
Fiction on the other hand forces no such predicament. One can read about miraculous incidents that a character experiences and instead of being forced to accept or reject, we can allow it to build in our mind and spirit until perhaps we long for a similar experience. So often this longing can mix with the Word of God, cause faith to well up and lead to an experience of the miraculous, a divine encounter if you will.
On a personal level, I remember years ago when I first read Frank Peretti’s books: This Present Darkness, and Piercing the Darkness. I know the spiritual reality they awakened within me has never gone back to sleep. On the contrary, I allowed the possibility with which those stories presented me to drive me toward a journey of seeking both a closer relationship with God, as well as a more tangible experience with Him than I had experienced up to that point in my life.
So why does God gift men and women to write fiction for the body of Christ? Perhaps for the same reason he gifts men and women to do anything. In order to build faith in his people, thus enabling them to further enter into His Kingdom, and ultimately of course, because He loves us.
Never forget Jesus’ great question in Luke 18:8:
Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
It is in this shadowy area of doubt, theology, rationalization, and hope that good, faith-building fiction can become a bridge between reality and possibility.
If we read about miracles in a non-fiction, or doctrinal book, we really have two choices. We can accept the doctrine and force it to fit into our own lexicon of faith and experience, or we can reject it as misrepresentation or misunderstanding at best, or heresy at worst.
Fiction on the other hand forces no such predicament. One can read about miraculous incidents that a character experiences and instead of being forced to accept or reject, we can allow it to build in our mind and spirit until perhaps we long for a similar experience. So often this longing can mix with the Word of God, cause faith to well up and lead to an experience of the miraculous, a divine encounter if you will.
On a personal level, I remember years ago when I first read Frank Peretti’s books: This Present Darkness, and Piercing the Darkness. I know the spiritual reality they awakened within me has never gone back to sleep. On the contrary, I allowed the possibility with which those stories presented me to drive me toward a journey of seeking both a closer relationship with God, as well as a more tangible experience with Him than I had experienced up to that point in my life.
So why does God gift men and women to write fiction for the body of Christ? Perhaps for the same reason he gifts men and women to do anything. In order to build faith in his people, thus enabling them to further enter into His Kingdom, and ultimately of course, because He loves us.
Never forget Jesus’ great question in Luke 18:8:
Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
I wonder….
God Bless,
Larry
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