Why the Word “Christian” Matters

I posted before about what Christian Fiction means to me. My main point was that Christian Fiction is fiction that espouses a Christian worldview. Now, I suppose the exact definition of “Christian worldview” might be open to some debate, but to me it boils down to being able to answer an unequivocal “yes” to the following (read the rest of the article from Focus on the Family)

• Do absolute moral truths exist?
• Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
• Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
• Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
• Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
• Is Satan real?
• Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
• Is the Bible accurate in all of its teachings?

That sums it up nicely – and notice that it shies away from any of the cultural hot button topics and focuses on the basic truths of the Gospel. (No discussion about women wearing pants or hats or long hair or any of that.) So, to follow logically along, Christian fiction should support an answer of “yes” to those questions. Which means you have to talk about and promote Christ.

You can’t have a Christian worldview – or Christian fiction – without mention of  Christ and the Gospel!

It seems straightforward (to me, at least), but the culture seems to be succeeding in making “Christian” into a bad word. So, in order to avoid the bad press, people are starting to say their books are , “Spiritual” or “Divinely inspired” or even just “Inspirational.” But if you do that, then realistically, you ought to just say your books are clean. Because if you do mention Christ in a book that you label with a mealy-mouthed term like those above, you’re going to annoy readers who are looking for clean without God (or who prefer a different god, or the little goddess in all of us, or whatever) and you’re also teetering on the edge of looking as if you, unlike Paul, are ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16)

Proponents of the above say that they’re watering down the terminology to make it more palatable to a broader, unsaved audience. But you’re either doing the bait and switch mentioned above or you’re just going to fail miserably. You can’t reach the unsaved for Christ – or even get them to be open to the gospel – if you’re leaving Him completely out of it.

I have no beef with people who write for the secular audience even if they are, personally, believers. I think we all have to write what we’re called to write. And I believe there’s a good market for clean, moral fiction. But clean, moral fiction isn’t ever going to help someone find redemption unless it’s clearly allegorical. Having characters who vaguely pray or talk about church, or who just avoid swearing and stealing, doesn’t show people their need for Jesus – and I’m not convinced that’s really the job of Christian fiction. It’s the job of Christians. Christian fiction can help Christians do their job (be salt and light to the world) and grow in their faith, it can help us escape the world and fantasize about a perfect world where it’s easy to follow Christ, but more than likely it’s not going to reach people who aren’t already Christians.

No matter what we call it.