It's the third of the ten commandments and one of the more marginalized.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
In actuality it is every bit as important as the other nine, a truth that makes more sense when you realize the third commandment means so much more than the use of a two, or three-word-phrase.
Those who marginalize it make the mistake of elevating the letter of the law over the spirit of the law. I think readers understands that concept. If not, what I mean is that many think of using the Lord's name in vain as a rule broken by a spoken word, but not a concept broken by the essence of ones thoughts and deeds.
I say all of this only by way of intro, because theologian am I not. But author am I is. (that was hard to write.) And vanity in Christian Fiction is what I really wanted to talk about.
Using the name in Fiction
I don't mean OMG or GD. Those are no-brainers. What I do mean is the label Christian, specifically in the genre, as it eludes to the essence of what a book's themes aught to be, and how that compares to the reality found in the pages of that book. Christian Fiction is so often lulled down to the equivalent of a lame Hallmark movie- Good. Wholesome. Encouraging. But not Christian. Not Gospel. That is using the name in vain in Christian Fiction.
Christian Fiction is a serious matter. It is NOT just another genre. It carries with it more responsibility than any other and I dare say, a little fearfully, more accountability. Just as a preacher is judged more harshly than those he looks at each week in the pews, it might be the case that writers will be judged more harshly than their readers – not that I equate fiction with preaching, but I digress. (maybe a later blog post)
Christian fiction aught to be handled more carefully because of who God is, because of what Christianity is, and also for the reader's sake.
It Matters to the Christian Reader
Real christian readers are looking for real Christian Fiction, and more and more, they are having trouble finding it. Just like anyone else, they want a good story, action, drama, and overwhelmingly, for some reason, Amish Romance. (I mean, what's it all about, ladies?) But more than any of that, they want real Christianity in fiction and they want the gospel. I can say that because I am one of them.
I'm concerned that the Christian Fiction genre is being used in vain by authors who see it as just another sales niche, justifying the label because maybe their book has no foul language, and the good triumphs over the bad, and the "bad-boy" character has a steak of good in him, or some other lame concept which is found in every other genre, but is supposed to pass as "Christian Fiction."
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