Christian Fiction, Secular Fiction, and Fiction for Christians

To set the pace for this post, let me start with a thesis statement: The purpose of Christian

Fiction is to tell a story that will honor and glorify God, point someone to God (either in the way of Salvation or a closer walk with Him,) as well as entertain. The purpose of Fiction for Christians is to entertain in a manner that is consistent with Christian values and beliefs.

So to begin, let us first focus on Christian Fiction. What does the phrase Christian Fiction mean? Is it just about having a religious theme?

I see Christian Fiction similar to the parables that Christ told. What is the difference between a parable and a regular story? A parable had an end result, an obvious lesson that the listener/reader was able to extrapolate that pointed to Christ. (Whether Salvation, Christian living, etc...) In Christian Fiction the core focus should be pointing someone to Christ, or pointing them to a lesson to help them become a better servant for Christ.

An important distinction between Christian Fiction and Secular Fiction is that there should be realism about sin, without the celebration of sin. We must always remember that people sin in the World, and they will sin in Christian Fiction if the characters are believable.

The difference is that the emphasis is on righteousness.

In other words; if a character sins, their behavior is not glorified. The damaging aspects of sin are shown, unlike in Secular Fiction, where sin is celebrated and the consequences of sin are glossed over.

The real focal point however is having that Christ centered theme; whether it is about someone that finds forgiveness in Christ, or a Christian learning a life lesson that moves them closer to Christ. This is what separates Christian Fiction from other Fiction... what the reader comes away from the book with. It is not just about entertainment.

‘So, what about Fiction for Christians? Is there something wrong with it?’

Absolutely not. As a matter of fact there are several similarities, especially in the area that sin is dealt with. As I stated earlier, people sin in the World, and they will sin in Fiction for Christians if the characters are believable. The difference is that the emphasis is on righteousness. As I stated earlier; if a character sins, their behavior is not glorified. The damaging aspects of sin are shown.

This sharp contrast is what divides Fiction for Christians from Secular Fiction, where sin is celebrated and the consequences of sin are glossed over. We should remember that a Christian’s entertainment should not be like that of the World.

‘Does that mean it must be boring?’

No. What it means is that in the process of entertaining, we should not be glorifying and encouraging sin. We shouldn’t be putting sin into our minds and hearts by our entertainment; whether that means images that we see or the words that we read.

There are things a Christian shouldn’t see, things we shouldn’t watch. Remember, a good writer will write in such a way as to allow the reader to “see” the story in their mind, hence reading it becomes the same thing.

That is why smut sells.

But it is not only about intimate scenes; overtly sensual descriptions, glorifying alcohol or drug use, Cursing, smoking, murder, assault, stealing… any behavior that does not glorify God shouldn’t be glorified in His place.

‘So all my characters should be moral and right or it is a bad book?’

Absolutely not. The difference is how their sin is portrayed, as well as how it is expressed.

To illustrate this point, let us consider cursing and using foul language.

‘But, in real life people cuss. If there is a bad guy, won’t he cuss?’

In the world, people curse and use all manner of foul language. However, in a book whose purpose is to entertain while honoring and glorifying God, putting something foul into the readers mind should be something the author should avoid. Mentioning that something happened is different than actually acting it out. Using euphemisms, or worse yet, actual foul language is not conducive to a maintaining a clean mind. You can have people engage in real behaviors without drawing attention to the sin and embedding it into their mind. A writer does not need to teach their readers curse words just because you have a character engaging in that behavior.

A similar premise is what should guide us on books dealing with immorality. Unfortunately, with the pervasiveness of immorality in the world, many authors have been trying to be more ‘edgy’ and appeal to the flesh to attract readers.

Personally, I believe that this detracts the Christian experience from the work, and their work would no longer be termed as for Christians. There are several authors that ten to fifteen years ago I would read, but now I would not, because of how that author presents sin.

‘So then, should I only read Christian Fiction? Can I read Secular Fiction or Fiction for Christians?’

In order to answer this, I would have you first ask yourself this question: Are you, as the reader, viewing sin as a learning experience, or are you learning sin from a viewing experience?

If sinful behavior is encouraged then it is not a book that I would read, much less encourage my children to read. While there are a few Secular Authors that I do read, I am cautious, since their writing stems from their worldview. (We will discuss more of that in a later post.)

‘So then, what about Fiction for Christians?’

Christian Fiction is to teach a lesson while glorifying God, Fiction for Christians is to entertain while glorifying God. I would suggest that, for the most part, if the author has followed this premise, then either of these would be fine.