Author Confession: The Continuum of Faith Expression in Inspirational Fiction
When you hear the terms inspirational fiction or Christian fiction, what does that mean? It means that the story will not be filled with filthy language or overt sin as acceptable in the lives of the main characters. But that could also be termed clean fiction. Inspirational or Christian indicates an adherence to a Biblical worldview. But that’s a pretty broad stroke.
Some people complain that Inspirational or Christian fiction is too preachy. Too much Bible-thumping. Too many instances of Jesus. But for some even one mention of faith or Jesus could be offensive. Funny how getting rid of some offensive stuff can still lead people to be offended.
There is a continuum but unfortunately there is no categorization of those on most books. You can have a Christian novel that never mentions God, Jesus, or cite one Scripture. That exists even in the Bible itself! Esther never mentions God. So a book may exemplify in the characters or the theme of the story, Biblical principles, and characters without saying so. A clean read to be sure. We might consider it a moral tale as well.
On the other end of the continuum is the evangelical novel. This is a book that details the spiritual journey of at least one character from unbeliever to believer. Even here the way the book is written can be boring, preachy, or can take the reader on a journey of that crisis of faith and the issues that arise that have to be worked through before the protagonist finally surrenders to Christ.
I’ve written clean stories but all my novels have some faith message to them. I’ve tried to write without it but couldn’t. Whitney’s Vow probably has the lightest touch of any of them. In Slam-Dunk Christmas there is a clear Roman’s road explanation of the gospel given. All my other stories vary to the degree to how explicit the gospel is explained. Some of it is more alluded too than spelled out.
Now some might even have a hard time with that, but I always hope my male characters are strong and strive to be Christlike, and seeking Him. My females as well may struggle but eventually need to be submitting to God in their lives. If one main character doesn’t know Jesus, they will, somehow, by the end of the story. It may not be via the Roman’s Road being written out. It won’t necessarily be spelled out in five easy steps to the Cross.
Why? Because the power of a story is the truth can be inserted through metaphor and examples without being overbearing and in so doing, get to the heart of the reader without raising their hackles. And if there is too much God in there, as long as I’m not being preachy, then that’s an issue the Holy Spirit has to work on with that reader. I need to be obedient to share the truth of God’s word.
If both my characters are already believers they still will struggle with sin, their own, and others, as well as issues of faith. No gospel is always presented but the real life ongoing desire to honor God with our lives or even the importance of faith and the body of Christ might be illustrated. Nothing perfect, but raw and real, so that even an unbeliever might want to know more about this Jesus my characters profess to love and serve. In some of those books I’m planting seeds but also watering gardens of those readers who are already Christians but might need to be encouraged or challenged in areas of their faith. The beauty of it all is there is a continuum of faith expression in inspirational fiction which provides multi-layered opportunities for the truths of the gospel to be shared.