What Christian Fiction is Today
Modern mainstream Christian media has itself in a bit of a pickle. It is most often — setting aside some more recent efforts — family-friendly by default and fairly sanitized of sin, drama, trauma, or raw emotion. It tends to present a somewhat unrelatable type of Christianity that is all peace and perfection with no real strife or problems that are solved quickly and efficiently with a simple prayer (not saying prayer isn’t one of the most powerful tools in the Christian’s arsenal against temptation and evil, but only rarely does it produce a truly miraculous 180 of emotion or situation).
Ultimately, there is nothing inherently terrible about this kind of media. Family-friendly stories are a really great for family movie nights and can allow multiple generations bond over one particular story. Additionally, some people have enough going on in their own lives that they do not want a whole bunch of drama and trauma in their fiction. And, for some, it is simply personal taste. If you are the kind of person that delights in mainstream Christian media, absolutely enjoy it to the fullest! This is by no means a judgement on what kind of media you personally prefer or find encouraging. Everyone is different in their walks of life, backgrounds, and spiritual needs, meaning what they want to fill their hearts and minds with.
However, mainstream Christian media has come to the point where it is only representing a very narrow sliver of the wider audience. The typical kinds of stories that it presents do not appeal to most men and teens, leaving them to fend for themselves in the secular world, which is a mediocre idea at best and an absolutely horrific idea at its worst. Christians of all demographics need stories and they simply are not getting them from most major Christian producing and publication companies.
There are a variety of reasons as to why Christian media has come to this point when Christ-filled media used to be far more mainstream (think the works of Lewis, Tolkien, L’Engle, etc.). The simplest explanation is that Western culture has for many years been rejecting Christ, seeking after their own pleasures, and shrinking the audience seeking Godly media down to only a few demographics large enough to make any money. The largest of these demographics is women who are looking for Christian content for their children and enjoy romances for themselves. There is no problem with this! However, once again, this representation neglects a significant portion of the rich, diverse tapestry of the Body of Christ.
Another demographic that tends to have the kind of money and audience mainstream producers and publishers are looking for is the church legalists. Those that want to project a picture-perfect representation of Christianity to those around them and themselves. The “check boxes” kind of Christians that value appearances over more in-depth theology and transformation. The problem with projecting that kind of perfection is that humanity literally cannot attain it on this broken, fallen world. Christ’s sacrifice is abundantly transformative, taking each and every one of us sinners from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, molding us to be made more and more in His perfect image. However, until we are united with Christ in Heaven, we are not going to be achieve that perfection.
Having hypersanitized Christian media is not only inaccurate to what walking a Christian life is really like, but it is also unrelatable (for both Christians and the world at large). Even the Bible itself — God’s Holy Word, given to us so that we may learn to become more like Him — includes all manner of topics, themes, and events that are not even remotely perfect or sanitized. Take a look at Samson’s story, or of Herod’s works, or Sodom and Gomorrah, or the actions of pre-conversion Paul. Each of these stories were important enough to go into the Bible for our education and edification, yet Christian storytelling must portray a perfect, sanitized vision of Christian life?
This is not only ridiculous, holding Christian media up to an unattainable standard, but it is harmful to Christians earnestly seeking stories that they can relate to, that excite their imaginations in a God-honoring way, and that are, simply, enjoyable. It is also harmful to Christian creatives, who are seeking to tell stories that dive more deeply into theological, emotional, intellectual topics, or that have a message to convey that does not fit the standard mainstream Christian media box.
Christian media should be telling stories that draw people in by being relatable, epic, theologically-sound, kind, and even brutal in the best way possible. Christian stories should be rich, high-quality, and beautiful in some form or fashion, presenting to the world God’s merciful, loving, and just nature. This does not mean give up on telling gentle or lighter stories, but even in those, a thread of the Truth needs to be woven. The Truth does not shy away from the messiness of this world but provides a beacon of hope to those who are lost and wounded.
