Following the Story Teller

Yesterday was apparently National “Bash Christian Novelists Day”. First, over to Thinklings where towards the end of a rant on the DaVinci Code debunking (which has been debunked thoroughly time and time again) Thor writes

-Christian fiction is an oxymoron. Could this genre be the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel?

-Speaking of Christian fiction. I consider the genre to be another one of the proverbial “backdoors” we leave wide open in Christendom for armchair theologians and purveyors of confusion, chaos, and potential heresies.

Now, the abominiation of desolation thing was a joke. Meanwhile over at Townhall.com, Nathaneal Blake took on Christian Music and decided to throw Christian Novels, as well.

Now, it’d be a lie to say some haven’t given Christian novels a bad name through a combination of bad writing and Tim LaHaye (though the two may go to together.) In the latter case, LaHaye has turned the return of Christ into a cash cow.

However, the idea of there be something wrong with Christians telling stories or writing novels is absurd. I was thinking about the issue and realized who the first Christian storyteller was-Christ himself!

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:-Matthew 13:34

Christ often answered questions with stories. He’s asked “Who’s my neighbor?” And he answers with a story. He answers the Pharisees accusation of him spending time with sinners with 3 straight stories.

Why did Jesus do this? He was speaking to people at their most basic level. The story is the simplest form of communications. You see it in every culture. Well-told stories can hold a power over people. It can make open people’s eyes more than statistics, numbers, or theological arguments.

Story tellers have the power to challenge people to live a better life. In many cases, they’ve awakened the conscience of a nation. Think of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” which awakened the hearts of thousands who before they read the book intellectually knew that people were kept in slavery in the South. Yet, they only cared about it after they read the story of a few of those slaves.

Whether its a romance, a historical novel, or any other type, biblical principles can be taught in subtle ways or not so subtle ones. I’ve got a Super Hero novel that includes very strong Christian elements spread throughout the story, not as much as the one I have been working on for 3 years about a dying preacher. Will anyone get saved through either novel. Probably not, but someone may get edified. Someone may learn something, it may open some doors of thought. Who knows?

Regardless, I do what I can and I follow in the steps of the Storyteller.