Unclear Christian Fiction

It happens more and more. You find a book in the Christian Fiction genre, read it, maybe you enjoy it, but in the end you think, wait, why was that Christian Fiction?

Yes, it had a few things going for it.

• It was clean and wholesome - as it ought to be.

• There were no curse words. Appreciated.

• Characters showed or learned general traits such as love, kindness, and forgiveness which could be "counted" as christian.

But missing was a clear and intentional Christianity. Of course there is nothing wrong with a good, non-christian-fiction book. But there is something obviously wrong with a good, non-christian, Christian-Fiction book.

It is common in the Christian Fiction genre for stories to trade out narrow Biblical messages in favor of messages intended to appeal to a wider audience. They will use themes like love, patience, kindness, etc. which are not outside of Christianity, but neither are they exclusive to Christianity. Many good non-christian books do the same and the result is a work of fiction with no definite reason to be labeled Christian Fiction (apart from a niche marketing plan)

The one golden rule in such Christian Fiction is- Thou shall not be too preachy. You've likely heard something along those lines before. At best, authors fear that overt Christianity will hurt their book sales. (they might be right.) At worst, they think that they are doing God a favor by toning it down; that He is a bad brand manager and they can help make the gospel more attractive, meaningful and effective. Romans 1:16 comes to mind.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes...

A few tips for finding clear, intentional Christian Fiction?

• Read the book description with a gospel focused mind. Is it possible that the story could exist in a non-christian market?

• Visit the author's website. Is there an indication that the author is focused on writing clear and intentional Christian Fiction? A motto? A mission statement?

• After selecting a book, always read with discernment.

• Try one of these trusted authors. Chris Fabry, Angela Hunt, or one of my own.

My name is R.A. Graves. I write thoughtful christian fiction with all of those elements that are common to the genre. But I thematically write about the gospel truths that are specific to our faith.

There's not much better than the feeling you get after reading a good book that gets the gospel right and glorifies God.

My prayer is that I will be such an author for other christian readers who are like myself.

I don't think I'm being to forward if I just come out and say, I want to be your favorite author. I want to write your favorite books.

Find out more about me or more about my books.

Thank you for reading! And as always,

Remember Christ, the author of salvation and the reader of our hearts.