Once upon a time, Christian Fiction had a bad reputation for being overly preachy and browbeating towards those who do not place their hope in Jesus. While, yes, we are supposed to call out sin for what it is, we are to do so like Jesus does and not take our methods from the Pharisees.
In recent years, I’ve noticed that some Christian Fiction books have taken a turn for the better. Instead of hitting readers over the head with the Bible through their narratives, Christian characters are showing more, or learning how to express, compassion for non-believers. When I say “compassion” I don’t mean that these books aren’t calling out sin; rather, they’re doing it in a loving way, showing readers how sin is harmful and that God instructs us to not partake in it out of His love for us.
As an Indie Christian author, I’m excited about this for the Christian Fiction world, and hope more authors join in on writing compassionate Christianity into their books.
If you’re a Christian author or aspiring writer and may not understand what I mean, let me explain why making sure Christian Fiction contains compassion is such a vital part of our books being lights for Christ.
Jesus Was Compassionate to Those Caught Up in Sin
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
-John 8:1-11, ESV
As we can glean from this passage in chapter eight of the book of John, when the Pharisees brought forth a woman who had committed adultery, Jesus did not join the crowd and stone her, as the Old Testament law dictated. Rather, He challenged the Pharisees with the statement, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Here, Jesus acknowledges the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and is showing the crowd that gathered to condemn the woman that her sin is no greater than theirs.
Many misconstrue this passage to say that Jesus was proving a point, teaching us to not judge others, when in reality, that’s not the case. As we can read in the previous chapter of John, in verse 24, we as Christians are called to judge others (correcting sin with gentleness), but with a righteous judgment:
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
-John 7:24, ESV
What is Righteous Judgment?
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
-Matthew 7:1-5, ESV
Righteous judgment, as described in chapter seven of Matthew, is making sure we’re not calling out someone else’s sin while we’re complacent doing the exact same thing. Jesus warns us that we will be judged in the same way we judge others, with the same measure, and that we need to deal with our own sin first before pointing out the sin in someone else’s life.
How Jesus Judges with Compassion in This Example
This leads me back to how Jesus approached the woman the Pharisees were about to stone for her sin of adultery. Jesus lived a sinless life. Therefore, every judgment He makes is righteous. Here, we can see He judged the woman with compassion via His last statement to her, where He tells her that He doesn’t condemn her, but that she needs to go and sin no more.
Being our example for how to call out sin with love, Jesus did the following:
- Lovingly saved the woman from a death sentence by righteously reminding her accusers of their own sin.
- Pointed out to the woman that the others cannot condemn her when the sins they haven’t repented of carry equal weight.
- After showing her kindness, He tells her that while He doesn’t condemn her for her actions, she does not need to continue to live in adultery.
Though He didn’t condemn her sin, He didn’t condone it. He didn’t say it was okay for her to continue on in adultery, but warned her against it out of love. When writing Christian Fiction, we should take this same approach when writing about characters who are caught up in sin.
Why More Compassion is Needed in Christian Fiction
Now that we’ve covered how to show compassion for non-believers and those who are struggling with sin, why is it so important that more books are written in the Christian Fiction space that demonstrate loving correction?
Because for decades upon decades, Christian Fiction has earned the reputation of being condemning and, at times, hateful towards non-believers, and that, my friends, is not in any way, shape, or form, how we gain souls for the Kingdom of God.
Because why would anyone want to join a mission that is bent on hating everything about them as they are now?
We Need to Imagine Ourselves in Our Potential Reader’s Shoes
Imagine if a woman who is currently in an adulterous relationship happens to pick up one of your books. At the time, she doesn’t realize that the book is Christian Fiction, but she’s so intrigued by the synopsis that she continues reading. She’s loving it! Even though she’s a non-believer and believes Christians are some of the most judgmental people on the planet, something about this book is making her open up to the idea of God.
That is, until the Christian main character is sitting in church and sees the woman who broke up her best friend’s marriage come in late and sit on the back pew. The minute the service is over, the main character hustles to the back of the church and pulls the adulteress aside, giving her the scalding whispered threat of, “You don’t belong here. Don’t come back, or I’ll expose what you did to everyone.”
Miffed, she keeps reading to see if the Christian character follows through on her threat, and she does with no remorse. Other church characters join her in gossiping about the woman, and the woman leaves the church in tears.
Your reader immediately closes the book, as the narrative confirmed her former notions about Christianity: that Christians are full of hate and that, if they’re the ones serving God, she’ll pass on Him too.
Jesus Doesn’t Cast Out Anyone Who Comes to Him, So We Shouldn’t Run Them Off!
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
-John 6:37, ESV
The reason the example above, and scenes from other, compassionless Christian Fiction novels where non-believers or even Christians who are backsliding are met with hatred, verbal abuse, or even physical violence for their sin, won’t convince anyone to follow Jesus is because the Christian characters aren’t even following Jesus!
Jesus didn’t call the adulteress a filthy tramp and leave her to be stoned. Jesus didn’t call Zacchaeus a money-hungry thief and keep walking. Jesus certainly didn’t slap Judas upside the head for the kiss of betrayal; rather, He rebuked Peter for cutting off someone’s ear when His accusers tried to take Him away.
If Jesus says that whoever comes to Him, He will not cast them out, then who are we to be writing books where our characters are casting off people left and right?
Christian Authors, Let’s Do Better
Following Jesus’s example when writing our own stories, let’s aim to impact the readers that Christian Fiction of years past may have cast out. Let’s write with those souls in mind, because they are people in need of a Savior, just like we were before we gave our hearts to Jesus. As Christians, we are called to be servants of Christ, using our talents for His glory. If we’re not using the gift of writing to introduce readers to the love of Jesus but are instead using it to push those who we deem “not worthy” away, we’re not stewarding our talents as we ought, or as He intends for them to be used.
Talk to Me, Arrowheads!
Have you read a Christian Fiction work that demonstrates Christ-like compassion when sin is confronted? Tell us about it in the comments!
Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.
-Allyson 😀
