Fiction as a whole (not just Christian Fiction) faces opponents who steadfastly reject the idea that any value can be gained from reading Fiction. As someone who advocates reading both fiction and non-fiction, I offer no argument whatsoever against the importance of and the value gained from reading devotionals, theological studies, autobiographies and and so on. Therefore, the scope of this blog is going to explore the very question raised by Christians who oppose fiction: what value can a christian gain from reading Christian Fiction?

I personally believe that there is a wealth of value to be gained from reading Christian Fiction. Fiction, for me, has always acted as an open window through which it is possible to see how other people think, feel and act. It can provide clarity and insight into why certain people make the decisions that they make. Fiction can broaden our horizons and allow us to connect with the human experience of others. Human elements such as laughter, hope, fear, pain, pressure, love, anger and dealing the grief can be viewed and better understood in the form of a story that opens our hearts to such emotions as sympathy, empathy and compassion.

Sometimes events or interactions that we take part in end up playing important roles in future events that we are completely unaware of. The use of an omniscient narrator often allows us to see how events tie together, even if, as in life, the characters involved remain unaware of the role they played in each other's lives. The ability to see the totality of a story come to fruition within a work of fiction can often serve as a reminder to us of the importance of the relationships we form and the impact or influence that we have on the lives of others, even beyond our scope of knowledge or understanding.

Fiction can be cathartic in a way, forcing us to become engaged with the issues others face and, perhaps, allowing us an outlet through which to deal with matters and questions we harbor in our own hearts. Fiction can also be educational. Understanding why people make certain decisions and what thought process or world view led them to that point can spark our interest and catapult us into searching out answers in works of non-fiction in order to fully educate ourselves on the realities that exist in the world today.

Of course, as Christians, it is always important when selecting fiction to be mindful of the type of books we are reading, which segues perfectly into my point about the value of the genre of Christian Fiction. I am a fan of both secular and faith based fiction; I read constantly, and I find value in every novel I read. However, I always find it particularly refreshing and inspiring to read the work of authors who write from a Christian point-of-view.

Reading about how christian characters deal with situations can, many times, prepare us or provide us a base of knowledge and experience in the event that we ever face similar situations or emotions in our real lives. Because we lived through certain experiences with the character we loved in our favorite book and got to contemplate, as an outsider, a problem or life experience from their perspective, all the while asking ourselves how we would handle the same situation, it is reasonable to conclude that if the time came when we were faced with a similar situation, we would feel more prepared to handle it, perhaps even benefiting from mistakes the character made during his or her journey through the same trials.

All Christians are charged with sharing our faith with others. Being open-minded does not mean falling into agreeance with beliefs or actions that go against the teachings of God. However, we can never hope to influence others in a positive way if we don't take the opportunity to see things from various perspectives. Making an effort to understand why people think, feel, act or believe the way that they do makes our interest in their lives more legitimate and provides a much more educated platform from which to present our message. Reading Christian Fiction can expand our horizons as it broaches difficult subjects that are a reality in the world today and allows us the benefit of seeing how the story is resolved, so that we may avoid downfalls a character faced, heed relevant advice that was given, demonstrate kindness that was shown in the midst of difficult circumstances or reflect on how God's timing was perfect even if the character may have doubted this was true during portions of his or her journey.

I would also remind opponents of Christian Fiction that Jesus himself taught using parables. Parables are fictional stories used to illustrate particular situations for the purpose of educating the reader/listener by teaching a moral lesson. In this way, Christian Fiction serves as a useful extension of devotionals, which commonly use stories to demonstrate applications of a particular portion of scripture.

Christian Fiction's value is priceless, as it entertains us, educates us, enlightens us, and reminds us that we are not alone in the trials we face as Christians. Christian authors seek to deal with a wide variety of current issues in a way that realistically describes the challenges faced by christian characters. When reading Christian Fiction, it is important that we recognize the applications to our daily lives, act on those realizations and learn to open our hearts to the plight of others. Fiction allows us a rare opportunity to become invested in the lives of fictional characters to an extent that we see both their goodness and their flaws; we are privy to their shortcomings, their failures, their moments of weakness and their struggles, but, ultimately, what stands out is the crucial role their faith in Christ plays in guiding them through each of these difficult moments.