Problems with Christian Fiction

Disclaimer #1: I admire people who thought to write a book, wrote the book, and published the book.

Disclaimer #2: There’s room to respectfully disagree. I know our culture says otherwise. I respectfully disagree!

Disclaimer #3: I’m a fan of Hallmark movies, meet-cutes, and mountain inns. I like happy endings.

Disclaimer #4: I do not have a problem with bonnets. I played dress-up way longer than was acceptable for a teenage girl.

What I do have a problem with is sameness and the standards of in/out that follow.

For those “in” comes pride and judgment. These are real problems. For those “out” comes envy and shame. These are real problems, too.

“There wasn’t a boundary Jesus wasn’t willing to cross to love others” – a quote from a sermon I listened to recently. The truth of it moves me now as much as it did at 18 when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

I came with a doubt – a sense that the girl I saw in the mirror would never measure up in the way the world wants girls to be.

A lot of days, I tried anyway. Some days, I said I didn’t care. There were days I hated myself, and they were increasing. I didn’t know what to do.

Then, I read apologetics written by thoughtful people defending Christianity. Until that point, I’d thought faith was for only the ignorant.

Then, I read stories of Jesus crossing the line to be with people – people that the culture shamed, marginalized, wrote off, and left behind. People with shady pasts. Until that point, I’d thought faith was for only the innocent.

From here, it wasn’t too far of a stretch to suppose Jesus would cross the line for a girl like me.

So, no. I don’t understand an entire market that promotes clean and convenient stories.

Because when I open the Bible, I see messy people with complicated lives.

Why would we put forth an alternate narrative?

What are we insisting?

Who are we excluding?

My 18-year-old self for one, who on that day in the hall outside my dorm room glimpsed something I hadn’t seen before.

I saw a chance.

I saw rescue.

I saw new life.

Even, and maybe especially, for messy girls with complicated lives.

So, yeah. I have a problem with sameness.

I have a problem with Christian fiction. And, Christian fiction has a problem, too.

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!