Don't Leave Jesus Out of the Story

I read way too much. I always have and probably always will.

Maybe I loved reading so much as a child because it was a gateway for my imagination, one that did not get me into as much trouble as other childhood pursuits – like talking too much.

Whatever the case, I have always loved nothing better than opening the pages of a book (and thus, closing my troublesome mouth) while simultaneously opening an endless world of possibilities. Learning was merely a by-product of reading for me.

But even today, people still laugh about the random facts I muster up in regular conversations. I could not tell you where I learned those things because I simply stored them away in my memory bank alongside the tales of ancient cities, deserted islands, and faraway lands I only hoped to visit. They are still nestled in my mind, right beside my beloved “book” friends such as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Heidi, and Jean Louis Finch, better known as Scout.

Here’s the thing – those tales were based on facts – real details of history, science, math, and language. And behind each story, even the ones not necessarily written by self-proclaimed Christians, was the truth of biblical principles. In other words, the books I read had clearly drawn lines between good and evil, even if it took the entire book to discover that line.

Which brings me to today.

Now, as I confessed earlier, I read way too much. I prefer fiction, but I read lots of non-fiction as well.  As a lifelong teacher, I still have a heart for children’s books, especially those written for older children and labeled YA or “Young Adult.”

Of course, YA is just a fancy industry term to denote books that will appeal to Young Adults – basically, preteens and teenagers. But the YA category could include readers of all ages – especially considering that more than half of American adults currently have a reading level of a fifth grader.

Whatever the case. YA books seem to find their way into my life. In fact, I have been privileged to review lots and lots and lots of YA novels in the past few years. Most of those books were written by Christian authors and produced by Christian publishers.

Having said all that, here’s my soapbox of the day!

If these books are indeed written by Christian authors through Christian publishers, then WHY is it almost impossible to easily find CHRIST in these books?

I just finished reading a whole lot of YA novels, dozens to be exact, and I am saddened and discouraged. These were supposed to be the very best that the Christian literary world has to offer to young readers. And they are the best Christian writers of our time. Their literary skills and expertise were obvious, much finer than any storytelling skills I claim to possess.

But for the most part, their novels were dystopian remakes and reconfigurations of other dystopian stories. The lack of new plots and different settings became puzzling to me as I tried reading this pile of very similar books.

And I was especially saddened by the minute, gory details of rampant evil in these stories. (Let’s get real and call it sin because that is exactly what evil is.) And in my opinion as a lifelong reader, sin was sensationalized in way too many pages of these novels. So much so, that if and when good appeared, it was much less appealing and attractive than its evil counterparts.

Did the writers make lists of the craziest possible dystopian settings and the vilest dystopian villains imaginable, or what? It was as if these Christian writers all sat around and brainstormed a thousand ways to mimic the Mockingjay or find another take on Tolkien.

But where was the line between good and evil? Try as hard as I could, for the most part, I could not find that line in the pages of those novels. If I did, it was buried deeply beneath the bloody, demonic, sensational details of evil, with no hope (or desire) of good in sight.

It was obvious that evil was the selling point of these books. And how sad that in a world of hopelessness and despair, we use that darkness to appeal to the imaginations of our kids, rather than inviting the God of all goodness into their minds and hearts.

Sure, I realize that this line between good and evil gets harder and harder to distinguish in our world, but should we not be the ones leaving a well-marked path for those who follow us? Can we not clearly point our kids to Christ?

Yes, as a retired English teacher, I totally understand the use of symbols, metaphors, and allegories. I am also a writer of articles, blogs, and YA novels. And I fully understand that modern young readers have been exposed to more technology and worldly aspects of culture than any other generation before.

But … wait!

Isn’t that all the more reason to ensure that what we write for our youth is saturated with Jesus? After all, He is the only hope our children have in this world – and the eternal world to come.

And isn’t that all the more reason for us to allow the most creative being of all, the actual Creator of the entire universe and all that is in it to help write our stories?

I firmly believe that Christian writers should be the best writers in every generation. C. S. Lewis is the perfect example of that statement. Everything he wrote in his fictional tales pointed straight to Jesus. There was no delineation or doubt.

But as Lewis often said, the images of his stories always came first, and the elements of Christianity followed – through the prompting and creativity of the Holy Spirit living in Lewis.

So, here’s my challenge to all YA writers: Let’s stop trying to imitate the world; It is hopeless. Instead, be an imitator of Christ and allow Him to start our stories, fill our stories, and finish our stories with truth and hope.

As we craft fiction for young readers, it is high time that we heed the wise advice that Jean Louise Finch got from her father Atticus. Let’s “delete the adjectives” so we will “have the facts.”

Or better yet, let’s listen to the instructions from Habakkuk 2:2 – “Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.’” 

Bottom line: Let the Holy Spirit drive our writing – not the market!

Otherwise, the precious young men and women who read our words may never find Jesus – the real Word of Life.