Writing Christian Fiction

Note: This was first posted as a guest post during Untitled's release. However, it deals with something very near and dear to my heart and I wanted to share it here as well. <3 

The genre “Christian fiction” covers a wide range of books. From romance to action to YA, Christian fiction has expanded to include quite a few sub-genres. 

I was curious what the definition for CF was, so I did a quick google search. 

“A Christian novel is any novel that expounds and illustrates a Christian world view in its plot, its characters, or both. Or which deals with Christian themes in a positive way.” 

However, I feel like so many of the more recent Christian fiction books have become simply clean fiction books, where the characters pray over a meal or say they believe in God. But believing in God doesn’t make someone a Christian. And I don’t believe just including the vague theme of “trusting in God” should make a book Christian. I know many people who say they believe in and trust God and yet they’re not Christians. 

So what should Christian fiction look like? 

I believe it should be a reflection of Christ. I believe it should deal with harsh topics that most of us would generally shy away from talking about. I believe it should challenge others in their walk with Christ. If we’re going to take up the pen and write a book we want to be labeled as Christian, than we’d better take care to be sure our words are not lukewarm. 

As writers, we have the incredible responsibility of being able to reach others through our words. People who we otherwise would never have had the chance of speaking to. I want to make that count. 

Most of my books deal with difficult situations. Whether it be the death of a friend, trusting God when we don’t understand, family conflict, PTSD, etc. Most of them are also set during WWII, so they deal with issues specific to that time period. My latest book, Untitled, touches on the horrors of war, PTSD, and homosexuality. And to be honest, I was terrified of including the last in there at all. Because what I believe and what the Bible teaches goes against everything the world is teaching today. 

But we can’t stay quiet about real-world issues. Divorce, abortion, homosexuality, PTSD, depression, suicide, racial issues, these are all subjects I see so many authors shying away from. But don’t. Please don’t. We need Christian authors who are willing to rise up and take a firm stance on these issues. We need Christian fiction that portrays a better view of how God wants these things handled. If we want our books to reach those around us then we need to write about the issues our world is struggling with. 

Now I’m going to pause for a second and say there’s nothing wrong with a lighter book. Sometimes we all just need a happy, feel good story. But even then, those characters should reflect Christ in the way they act and respond to the situations they encounter. If I’m reading a Christian book I want to see more of their faith than the fact that they pray before they eat. 

Not everyone is called to write the same thing. But as Christians we’re all told that Whatsoever therefore yet eat, or drink, or whatsoever yet do, so all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) We’re all called to bring glory to God. So let's do that in our writing as well.