Christian Influence Writing Part III: Sermons or Stories

I remember taking a creative writing in college. I wrote a story with lots of "meaning." It had a "message" and my characters spouted that message at every opportunity. My teacher, a very blunt spoken man, asked, "What were you trying to do with this story?" (Okay, he had a few words of description before the word story, but I don't use that language.) I told him all about the message I had in mind.

He looked me straight in the eye and said, "If you want to send a message call Western Union," then he threw down the paper and said, "Next time write me a story and not a sermon."

Only when I became a teacher and later an editor, did I fully understand his point. Way too many people try to wrap sermons into stories. Even when writing for Christians, the reader doesn't want to read a short story or novel with some heavy-handed message hitting them in the face. They want to be entertained, inspired, even challenged, but they don't want to be preached at.

When writing Christian-Influence fiction for a more general audience, it is even more essential that one resist the temptation for sermonizing. Nothing is going to cause a website visitor to surf away quicker than to think they are going to read an entertaining bit of fiction and then be hit with some sort of polemic about how they should think or believe. And an editor for a general interest or genre publication is going to be reaching for the SASE after just a couple of pages of didactic fiction.

Does this mean that a piece of fiction can't have a message? Absolutely not. Good pieces of fiction often have a message. Huckleberry Finn, Grapes of Wrath, The Time Machine, The Great Gatsby, and hundreds of other classics contain lessons, but those lessons, those messages grow out of the story. They are not imposed on the story. The story comes first and the message lays beneath the surface glimpsed occasionally as one skims across the the water chasing the plot.

And in the best stories the general essence of the message is clear, but it's details are not so clear. Is Huck Finn a racist product of his time with compassion for one slave or is he making a statment about slavery as a whole? Is H.G. Wells making a statement about class warfare in The Time Machine or is he warning against an unquestioning acceptance of an easy life without engaging in the work that makes that life possible?

Personally, I would like to see more entertaining secular short stories which simply have Christian characters in them Too many stories are about Christianity or the Christian walk. But where are the mystery stories in secular publications in which the main character happens to be a Christian, just as Sherlock Holmes happened to play the violin and organized his files by the amount of dust on them. Where are the science fiction stories in which one of the crew members on a planetary survey expedition prays before he puts on his suit for an EVA, but in which the story doesn't revolve around his religious beliefs?

There are some. The Father Brown mysteries, in a different form Zenna Henderson's stories of devout people in extraordinary situations, and a few other places.

It is easy to blame the "godless" secular media for barring access, yet, one of the most popular TV shows on CBS for several years was Touched by an Angel with a Christian producer and some Christian actors.

But a Christian created, produced and advocated with the network for the show. And she created good compelling secular stories with a spiritual twist. Perhaps one of the most extreme examples of Christian Influence writing.

Maybe part of the problem is a reticence among secular publishers to include stories which include Christian main characters. But maybe it's also because Christian writers aren't writing stories which include Christian characters which don't become sermons.

If we want more Christian characters in secular fiction, then we will have to write mainstream and genre stories with Christian characters, and we need to advocate for them with editors and publishers. After all, if we don't do it. They won't.

Next Time: Writing Christian Influence fiction without going over the "The Dark Side."

An Unconventional Christian Dystopia Premise

It seems that much of current Christian science fiction focuses on a Dystopic vision of the future. Dystopias are the opposite of utopias. They are nightmare visions of the world of tomorrow. Dystopias are a staple of science fiction, although, they seem to have become popular in Christian speculative fiction in recent years. Perhaps it is the influence of the Left Behind series placed during the "Great Tribulation" period described in Revelation . Maybe it is just a good way to build a heart-throbbing, action-filled story. Whatever the reason, they are big part of the Christian science fiction scene.

Most of these dystopias postulate an atheistic/humanistic government persecuting an underground, relatively united, Christian church. However, with the notable exception of the communism of the old soviet union, it's satellite states and modern day China, historically, most religious persecution has come from state-sponsored religious groups rather than from atheistic groups. In other words, it is from states that are not anti-religion, but pro-religion to such an extreme that any variation from the state-sanctioned religious belief system is repressed, violently if necessary.

Lately, I've been thinking that an interesting spin on the Christian Underground Church of the future story would be to place it in a world where one particular "Christian" group has taken the reigns of power.

The persecuted church would be composed of individuals who initially supported the "moral" reforms which may have started out innocuously enough like posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Later modification of the first amendment to allow repression of certain types of "offensive" materials and religions. This could possibly take place under the rationale that certain religious groups spawn terrorism. Since Christians form the majority, repression of these other religions would be easy to condone.

Then Christianity would be designated as the official religion.Again little objection since most Americans considered themselves Christian, whether they actually went ot church or not.

Over time one segment, the most legalistic of the coalition, gains ascendancy. A Ministry of Religion could be established to provide government assistance to religious organizations, but eventually becoming a vetting agency to determine what is or is not a "legitimate religion." Eventually, it becomes an agency of a new inquisition seeking out "heretics." This list of heretical groups grows to include those teaching salvation through repentance and faith alone, and not through works of righteousness, those holding that there is some flexibility in matters of dress and entertainment, those that practice certain rituals rather than those approved by the state, and possibly those who are simply outside the mainstream of Christianity like Charismatics and Pentecostals.

Lest you believe this to be an unlikely scenario, I suggest you read European history. Entire wars were fought over whether to use one element or two in the celebration of the Eucharist. Wycliffe, one of the first men to translate the Bible into English was martyred for that act alone. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrims Progress, wrote most of that work while imprisoned for teaching a doctrine different than that sanctioned by the English church at the time.

Even in the Americas, our Puritan forefathers, punished variant doctrines with pillories, beatings, exile and death. Indeed, most of us viscerally approve freedom of religion (or speech or the press for that matter) only in so far as it protects my freedom and not necessarily that of those with whom I disagree. So, it is easy to see how a "majority" religion could slowly turn a moral agenda into a legalistic repressive government.

If Christian speculative fiction is part parable, such a story could be not only action-filled and thought-provoking, but could also be an allegory of the constant spiritual struggle between the forces of legalism and grace.

It has been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Whether that damnation is personal or societal, it is certainly fair game to explore in fiction. Yes, I am working on a story with this premise. When it's finished, I'll let you know how it came out. But, hey, feel free to create your own nightmare theocracy. If it's good enough, it might even appear in a future issue of Wayfarers Journal.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Post them here.

Zenna Henderson: She Held Wonder

The first time I read any science fiction with a spiritual foundation was when I picked up C. S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet in high school, when I took it upon myself to organize their paperback book collection. It was another decade before I ran across any other science fiction which carried with it a sense of the divine.

The writer was Zenna Henderson. She is most famous for a series of stories about The People, A group of humanoid aliens who crash landed on earth during the 19th century. Along with certain "persuasions" or abilities like levitation, telepathy and healing of emotions, they had a everpresent awareness of "The Power." They praise the power, pray to it (him), and follow a morality which flows from this Power. Scripture references mixed with paranormal abilities and a bitter sweet story about a people a long way from a home that had been destroyed a century ago.

Her other short story collections Holding Wonder and The Anything Box contained stories ranging from the serious to the whimsical. Henderson wrote about a teacher giving instruction to a little girl's invisible friend, about angels in coveralls repairing rips in time, about a tonic "for what ails you," about a child who is "the believing kind," and one of my personal favorites about a separatist religious community and a scientific research center just 20 miles apart and the lesson in faith a skeptic learns.

"The Effectives" takes place in the future after a space probe has brought back a deadly disease. The only somewhat effective treatment is a total blood transfusion. There are several research centers, but EDRU - 14 has a much higher recovery rate than elsewhere. A researcher arrives to find out why. The only difference is that much of the blood used came from the town of Away, the home of an Amish-like religious community of "Detachees." The difference? Well, I'll let you try to find the book in your library or purchase it from an online out-of-print store, but it has to do with something the Detachees do while giving the blood.

Another wonderful story is about a couple trying to duplicate some wonderful concoctions by an eccentric relative. But they miss the main ingredient which gives the story it's name "Love Every Third Stir."

These stories are not edgy. Indeed, some would call them syrupy sweet. Sometimes the stories are a bit predictable. But the strong moral basis of the stories, the intriguing premises, and the memorable characters have made these stories favorites for fans over the past 30 years.

The only book currently in print is a 1995 collection of all the stories of The People called The Ingathering.

The other out-of-print books, many of which are available at sites like Amazon.com and Barnes Nobel include:

Pilgrimage: The First Book of the People

No Different Flesh

Holding Wonder

The Anything Box

If you are looking for edgy, socially troubling, apocalyptic type of science fiction, these books are probably not for you. But if you like a good uplifting read touched with the fantastic, pick up one of these books. You might find yourself HOLDING WONDER.