Worldviews

One of the thoughts that has been on my mind for several months now has been on the worldviews communicated in books when God is absent, namely in clean or closed door books that do not contain Christian content. Expanding on my earlier essay regarding clean versus Christian fiction books, I've taken a backseat in observing some of the shifts in Christian books since I first wrote my piece nearly a year ago. I haven't said too much since that time as I know it's not a very popular opinion, but I have seen some interesting trends in 2024, including:

• More and more Christian bookstagrammers share that they read any manner of Christian and clean books, with their accounts reflecting such activity.
• Not as many Christians take the time to differentiate between the two types of genres (clean versus Christian) when they're promoting books, making it challenging to know what type of content to expect.
• Christian publishers are now publishing books that are clean and written by Christian authors (for the most part), but which do not necessarily include faith content, with some authors making the leap away from writing solely Christian books.
• Clean books written by non-Christian authors continue to get lumped into Christian promotions, adding to the difficulty of spiritual discernment without first knowing the author or the book.

For someone who absolutely loves to discover new authors and books as a means of growing in my faith and being challenged on different perspectives, I find that I have to do so much research now as compared to ever before. Reading Christian fiction in the 90s, aughts, and even early last decade, I confess that I took it for granted that if Christians were promoting certain books, that the authors and books would reflect Christian content and the Christian worldview, with a few coming close to the line of what might be deemed acceptable in Christian books.

My, but how things have changed since that time! It is wearying having to be so vigilant, and it can take the joy out of reading. As much as I want to be a responsible Christian reader, I also can't help but wonder if I might be in a very small camp that thinks this way when I see the proliferation of clean books overshadowing the faith content I am purposefully seeking. This isn't an easy stance to take when clean books are popular for a reason and they are hugely marketable; however, they still leave me with a void after reading them. I've attributed some of those gaps to the following reasons, though I'm certain there are more.

Conflict and Growth

When characters experience conflict in a clean book and they are given advice on how to overcome it, I've noticed that there are often parallels to self-help books where the characters are told to look inward, buckle up, or just do things better. This is a simplistic treatment of what actually happens in plots and I'm not trying to minimize the very real conflicts that people can have when they don't have God in their lives, such as for non-Christian characters; however, when the book is written by a Christian author and the book is written as a clean book without faith content, I do feel like the best advice is not enough.

Even if the characters overcome conflict and experience growth, growth on our own terms is limited. I love seeing characters grow, but I know that in my own life, my growth would be stunted if it arose only out of my own effort. What is the worldview being presented when it's fully up to us to overcome challenges and move ahead in life? And for every character that does choose to change and grow through adversity, what happens for the ones who don't?

Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” - 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

External Circumstances

More and more, I'm coming across the concept of luck and fate in clean books, which is inevitable when God is not part of the story. In some of the titles I've read this year, there are numerous characters who have a fatalistic perspective on life where things happen and there is no opportunity to understand why such events have occurred or to have hope that things can change. Such is the power of prayer for Christians who believe that God hears us and responds in His timing and sovereignty, even when there are questions at the end of the day.

Seeing characters resigned to their circumstances may be a common worldview, but it's not always an encouraging one to read when we know that God can make all the difference. Additionally, in fiction books where romances are happenstance or the stuff that is "written in the stars," it can take a lot of personal responsibility away when actions and consequences are left to inconsequential forces (which is also a very fine line into more New Age thoughts and beliefs). Here, the worldview can either be that we have to take on all of our circumstances and fix them, inducing anxiety and pressure, or that there isn't anything to be helped as it's based on "destiny." Both worldviews take control away from God by either putting ourselves in control or by leaving control to unknowable entities.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” - Luke 18:1-8

Relational Ethics

This is something that has been bothering me where a book either tries to assert moral authority outside of the authority of God and the Bible, or it downplays the need for one. It's more common in some of the agenda-driven books I've read apart from clean and Christian fiction where anything goes; however, its impact is no less absent. Though many Christian authors are careful to include certain convictions in their writing, not all may feel compelled to do so. Furthermore, if a non-Christian author is writing a clean book, there is not an expectation that they need to include biblical standards, though industry and common sense standards may exist for what constitutes a clean or closed door book.

However, as Christians are aware of from the Sermon on the Mount, cleanliness is not only what is on the outside or what can be seen. In addition to that, Jesus' standard is so high that it concerns the heart which is invisible to others. I'm saddened when I see standards slipping in order to make clean books more trendy, such as where cheating isn't cheating if the characters aren't married or where it's alright to share a bed but in actuality, would put a character more at risk of behaviour they might not otherwise engage in, and so on. In the name of advancing a particular plot point or adding another trope, how characters treat each other can become secondary and quite selfish.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! - Philippians 2:3-8

Christmas

I'm going to end on this final note as 'tis the season. This is the time of year where there are a lot of booklists and wishlists, Christmas tree book stacks, and overall, Christmassy-themed everything. In short, there are a lot of Christmas books out there. If you're looking for a fun escape that takes you into a Hallmarkesque land, by no means are you out of choices for what to read. However, if a book only takes you as far as tinsel and Frosty the Snowman, might I suggest that there are a lot of Christian fiction (and non-fiction!) books that will take you into the true meaning of Christmas?

Don't get me wrong, reading can be escapist and entertaining; however, when there is such power in what it means for God to come to us in human flesh, as God Incarnate, I want to find Christian books that reflect both the majesty and the humility around His Son's birth as I think about why we are celebrating Christmas in the first place. When clean books don't reference Jesus or only on a cursory level, they are missing out on the true wonder that Christians get to experience and the worldview of Christmas being so much more than just gathering with family and giving gifts (which as good as they are, can't compare to God's love for us). If time is short and activities are multiplying this upcoming month, maybe prioritizing Christian books over clean books will help usher in the Christmas season the best 💖

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

(And can I please just make the case that if you do love clean books that you clearly label them as such instead of just saying Christian/clean books? It would do a world of good to state which is which so that readers aren't caught off-guard. And if you don't know, you can do a tiny bit of extra research to help the rest of us out, especially as you've already read the book and know what to expect. Thank you—that would mean so much and save time for the rest of us!)