Ramblings-n-Writings

Today, My Friend Amy asked:

I was reading over at Novel Journey the other day (a great blog, by the way!) and this post caught my eye and just really really grabbed at the heart of what I think is the conflict around “preachy” Christian fiction. So I’m going to take this quote from the quote in the post, and ask you to share your thoughts about this topic.

“Too many Christians think we are supposed to use the arts to give people the answers. We’re not. We’re supposed to use the arts to lead them into a question.”
Barbara Nicolosi

What do you think? Do you think Christian fiction should provide answers or lead us to questions?

Before giving you my answer, let me encourage you to read the original post at Novel Journey if you haven’t already.

In my opinion, good Christian fiction both gives us answers and leads us to questions. However, it is done in an unobtrusive way, typically through the life of a character.

Christian fiction covers a huge gamut of styles (chick-lit to biblical fiction to cozy mysteries). And hopefully each book has a message to deliver. To me, the answers and questions are part of that message.

Whatever intent the author has while writing, whether to prompt someone to salvation or to encourage the downhearted or to show an aspect of God’s love, his/her message should be clear. Some authors choose to do this with a 3-page verbatim sermon (huge turnoff to me) or with simple phrases scattered throughout.

Side thought - While I’m sure every author has good intentions for including sermons and theological discussions, I’m finding more and more people are turned off by them. What good does giving the author’s version of the answer do if the reader skims over it? – end of side thought

I’m reminded of a book … but I don’t know what book! … that used the phrase “Only what’s done for God will last” or a variation of that. I’m thinking it was Tamera Alexander’s From a Distance, but I could be wrong. That simple phrase stuck in my head and I carried it with me for days and days after finishing the book.

The story and the evolving characters were proof of that phrase. Were there long sermons (the preachy part)? No. Were there deep discussions between characters? Not really. It was simply the author’s message scattered throughout as part of the plot. (It was tastefully and artfully done too.) That simple phrase led me to question how I could apply the story to my life. Could I have what the main character had? If so, how? What benefits would I receive from applying that phrase?

Those questions are legitimate and through the life of the main character, I could form answers. I knew that if I chose to serve God rather than self, I would see the benefits much like the main character.

Some of the commentators mentioned on the original Novel Journey post that Jesus used parables and questions to teach. He then allowed the disciples (or whoever) to form their own conclusions. If they came to the proper conclusion, he told them. If they didn’t, he reinforced his teaching and helped them see the correct answer.

In light of Christian fiction, obviously we don’t have Jesus teaching us. However, any answers that we conclude as a result of our reading, we should judge in light of the Bible. If the book gives an answer, we need to check it against Scripture. If a book creates a question in our mind, we should seek the Bible for the answer.

So what do you think? Should Christian fiction provide answers, lead to questions, or both?

Related posts:

1. Biblical Fiction: Good or Bad?
2. Faith ‘n’ Fiction: First Book
3. My Choice of Suspense Fiction
4. A Most Memorable Character
5. Thoughts on Morris’ Lions of Judah series

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