Godliness as a Trait

illumined candle peeking through the pages of a book curled into a heart against dark background

I'm not sure why this thought came into my mind during church, but it's something I've been wondering about since then. Specifically, I've been trying to recall when I last saw characters in Christian fiction being described as godly, notably for the heroine.

While I understand that godliness may be implied or that I may have even unknowingly glossed over this word while reading, I was thinking about what it means to have a main character who is more known for their godliness than for their beauty or intelligence. That's not to say that any of these attributes are mutually exclusive, but I'm questioning whether the appearance of godliness might be more elusive than I realize (or on the flip side, am I completely missing this when it is prevalent?).

I recognize that there is usually a tension between making a character both relatable and yet aspirational. If a character is too aspirational, then I can see readers having a hard time connecting with them as the character's doubts, failures, and mistakes may not be emphasized. Yet if a character is too relatable and does not seem to be someone a reader might endeavour to be like or they lack admirable qualities, it doesn't always lead toward continued interest in their growth or transformation either.

The notion of being set apart or sanctified seems fairly normative for Christians; however, I feel like I've seen other words primarily used to describe the traits of main characters instead. For women, I'm used to seeing words like "spunky", "plunky," "sassy," and even "snarky." These things in and of themselves aren't bad descriptors, but sort of the like the "strong female character" in movies, not every woman can be one of these traits all of the time. Oddly enough for men, I tend to see more physical descriptors like "handsome" or "attractive" and behaviours such as "broody" or "mysterious."

It's not that a book needs to confine their character traits to Christian terminology like holiness or the various fruit of the Spirit. It's more that if a man or woman acting in a godly manner is the most attractive of all, are there reasons why it may not always be referenced?

I've come up with a few points on why godliness might not be directly named when describing Christian characters in books and am curious if these ring true for anyone.

Too ambiguous?

Is calling someone godly too easy? Is its meaning lost when godliness can mean anything to Christians? Is there a concern that godliness might be equated to legalism? Or does godliness only point toward external actions as opposed to what's happening in the heart? Does it do full justice to describing a Christian when the character might also exhibit other traits? Is it a word that can become a filler word?

Too cliché?

Is it cheesy to describe a character as acting in a godly manner when there are other preferred words? For books that are grittier or edgier, does using the word "godly" seem out-of-place? If Christian readers see this word, do they automatically get their defenses up if it has the connotation of being a weak descriptor? And is it too expected and thus, renders the work as being stereotypical of Christian fiction when authors don't want to fall into stereotypes?

Too overused and now not used at all?

Finally, is calling a character godly something that happened more frequently in the past, whereas books have since distanced itself from this term? Is it representative of a type of Christianity that authors don't want to allude to nowadays? Do authors want to show characters as more than just being Christians, so it's better to couple their attributes with other qualities?

I admit that there are a lot of questions for such a minor point. However, I always enjoy reading about male or female characters who are celebrated for their faithfulness to Christ or their heart that honours God. When I read that characters are only beautiful or smart, I don't find that as relatable. Even pluckiness, if it's defined as persistence or patience or grit under adversity, can be noble though it should be for the right reasons as opposed to just making the character noticeable. My personal observation has been that I'm not really a plucky or spunky person, but I can strive to be more godly each day. Perhaps that's what I hope to find when I read Christian fiction.