Thoughts on Christian Fiction - reply to Wordstringer

I've been asked what I think about Christian novels that have plots that appear to have very little to do with Christian journeys, but have Christian characters, versus plots that are centred completely around a Christian journey. Essentially, what level of 'Christian content' makes a good Christian novel?

I don't know that there's an answer to that.

Francine Rivers sums it up the difference concisely:
"A Christian who writes may weave Christian principles into the story, but the work can stand when those elements are removed. A Christian writer is called to present a story that is all about Jesus. The Lord is the foundation, the structure, and Scripture has everything to do with the creation and development of the characters in the story. Jesus is central to the theme. If you remove Jesus and Biblical principles from the novel, it collapses."

Both types of novels exist in the Christian fiction industry, both in film and print. I believe that there are many stories that need to be told, whether they are of Rivers's first variety, that they have a bit of a Christian bent, or whether they are of the second, that are, in essence a Christian journey. One is not more worthy than the other, for there are many stories out there to be told, whether they are spiritual/evangelical in nature or not.

However, I wonder at the idea of simply tossing in a Christian bent simply to justify to oneself that one is a 'Chrisitan' writer. There is no shame in being a Christian who writes. There is no shame in writing fiction that does not have a Christian bent. It is, however, decietful to simply throw in a Christian bent in order to sell it to the Christian market. There is a line of Christian romance novels that, more often than not, dances with 'how much can we have our characters compromise God's set-out way of living and still call our novels Christian?' or 'how little Christian content can we get away with, so we can focus on the romance and action angles of the plot?' Not every novel in the line is like that, but too many are. I want to tell those writers to just write for a secular romance line, because that's what they obviously want to do, but are afraid of doing it for danger of being considered 'unChristian'.

So it comes down to this: should novels that are not primarily a journey of faith, but have Christian characters who do Christian things be considered Christian novels? Well, why not? Christian people do Christian things, but there are aspects of their lives that are affected, but not overshadowed or ruled by these things. Does that mean those stories are not worth telling? It would be nice if the publishers could categorize the books for us... actual evangelical, spiritual-journey stories that would collapse without the spiritual elements, versus stories about people who happen to be Christian, but could just as easily be athiests or Unitarians, and still have the same experiences. However, I can't see that happening.

I respect people like Rivers, whose stories are ALWAYS spiritual in nature, in spite of how much action (and BOY does she have action) run through them. There should be a special publisher for writers of her calibre.

On the other hand, if Karen Kingsbury wants to write about her characters living their lives and doing a few Christian things on the side, what right do we have to stop her? She tells stories, too. People buy them for entertainment, not spiritual lessons.

And those of you who know me - if/when I do publish in the evangelical market, if you can take the spiritual elements out of my book and it still stands, burn it. And I intend to publish in the secular industry as well, and will do that proudly. I have other stories to tell.