I invite you to review your work in progress, giving particular attention to the worldview you convey through it. See if you describe the world as a Bible-believing Christian understands it or as a cynical, fatalistic writer would.
Here are a few characteristics of a faithful Christian worldview. Under each one, I quote a passage from Indiana ACFW member Colleen Coble’s 2016 novel, Mermaid Moon.
A Christian worldview is one in which…
1. Evil is a genuine, destructive force that we must guard
against.
Mallory sighed and followed. Her daughter had no idea just how unsafe the world could be, how quickly life could go from perfect to shattered beyond repair. One mistake and the world could change. She knew that only too well.
She turned and stared after the van. Something bad could’ve happened because she’d been late. She had to be extra vigilant.
2. Christians suffer genuine loss.
Her father never locked the house, and she opened the weathered red door. The familiar scent of pipe tobacco wafted up her nose as stepped into the foyer. It had been so long since she’d been here, too long. The pale-yellow walls showed a few more chips in the plaster, and she stepped into the living room. The plaid sofa her parents had bought in the seventies still held its spot to the left of the fireplace. Her gaze went to the green leather recliner facing the fireplace. The indentation of her father’s body remained in the cushion, and she resisted the impulse to step over and put her hand on the seat.
3. Christians sometimes do wrong--and admit it.
Mallory gave a jerky nod as she settled into the chair on the other side of the table. The elephant in the room wasn’t going away without talking about it. “Look, we might as well get it all out in the open. I didn’t treat you very well. I’m sorry.”
Even now, the apology seemed too little too late, and her guilt over the way she’d treated all of them only added to the blood on her hands.
4. Christians seek the forgiveness of those they've wronged.
Sadie turned her face toward DeAnn.“Why did you go away, Mommy?”
That made DeAnn flinch. Surely she must have known that would be the first question Sadie asked…If she lied to Sadie, this experiment was over.
“I’m sorry I left. I have no good excuse. You’re a wonderful little girl, and any mommy would be proud to have you for her little girl. I hope you can forgive me.”
5. God is aware of what we do.
Aunt Blanche shook her finger in her face. “Mallory Blanchard, you stop that right now. Do you think any of this took God by surprise? Do you think you have the power to change what he’s ordained and set in motion? We all do things we wish we hadn’t, but God doesn’t strike us dead for it. Nor does he exact a dreadful retribution. Have you been walking around all these years thinking this was all your fault?”
6. Yet God does not abandon us because of what we've done.
"Don't do what I did and ruin your life because you think that's all you deserve...All we can do is learn from our mistakes. We can't go back and change them. God isn't holding it over your head, you know. You're the only one doing that."
7. So we can seek God's wisdom for the decisions we face.
...Mallory let her thoughts wander as she drove to her aunt's. She had to make a decision soon. Haylie would be out of school in another few weeks, and if they were going back to Bangor, that would be the time to make a move.
What was the right thing to do? She'd prayed for wisdom, but she had no clear sense of direction yet.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it illustrates what I mean by writing with a Christian worldview: Christian fiction writers see the same world that fatalists see, but we see it as God’s world. For this reason, we focus the lens of our narratives on God’s compassion and providence within the world.
Theologian Georgia Harkness observes that "so many people believe life to be meaningless and the hope set forth by Christian faith to be illusory that [fatalists] 'speak to their condition.' There are moments of humor and of brightness and pleasure in such writing, as in life, but for the most part the impression left is that fate condemns man to suffering and sordidness in a meaningless world" (The Providence of God, 53).
We are called, not just to "speak to the condition" of fallen humanity, but to speak of the hope that is ours through the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of our world. Thanks, Colleen, for these skillful examples of how to do it.
Joe
Allison has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian
Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth and daughter Heather. His non-fiction
books include Setting Goals That Count and Swords and Whetstones.
Mallory sighed and followed. Her daughter had no idea just how unsafe the world could be, how quickly life could go from perfect to shattered beyond repair. One mistake and the world could change. She knew that only too well.
She turned and stared after the van. Something bad could’ve happened because she’d been late. She had to be extra vigilant.
2. Christians suffer genuine loss.
Her father never locked the house, and she opened the weathered red door. The familiar scent of pipe tobacco wafted up her nose as stepped into the foyer. It had been so long since she’d been here, too long. The pale-yellow walls showed a few more chips in the plaster, and she stepped into the living room. The plaid sofa her parents had bought in the seventies still held its spot to the left of the fireplace. Her gaze went to the green leather recliner facing the fireplace. The indentation of her father’s body remained in the cushion, and she resisted the impulse to step over and put her hand on the seat.
3. Christians sometimes do wrong--and admit it.
Mallory gave a jerky nod as she settled into the chair on the other side of the table. The elephant in the room wasn’t going away without talking about it. “Look, we might as well get it all out in the open. I didn’t treat you very well. I’m sorry.”
Even now, the apology seemed too little too late, and her guilt over the way she’d treated all of them only added to the blood on her hands.
4. Christians seek the forgiveness of those they've wronged.
Sadie turned her face toward DeAnn.“Why did you go away, Mommy?”
That made DeAnn flinch. Surely she must have known that would be the first question Sadie asked…If she lied to Sadie, this experiment was over.
“I’m sorry I left. I have no good excuse. You’re a wonderful little girl, and any mommy would be proud to have you for her little girl. I hope you can forgive me.”
5. God is aware of what we do.
Aunt Blanche shook her finger in her face. “Mallory Blanchard, you stop that right now. Do you think any of this took God by surprise? Do you think you have the power to change what he’s ordained and set in motion? We all do things we wish we hadn’t, but God doesn’t strike us dead for it. Nor does he exact a dreadful retribution. Have you been walking around all these years thinking this was all your fault?”
6. Yet God does not abandon us because of what we've done.
"Don't do what I did and ruin your life because you think that's all you deserve...All we can do is learn from our mistakes. We can't go back and change them. God isn't holding it over your head, you know. You're the only one doing that."
7. So we can seek God's wisdom for the decisions we face.
...Mallory let her thoughts wander as she drove to her aunt's. She had to make a decision soon. Haylie would be out of school in another few weeks, and if they were going back to Bangor, that would be the time to make a move.
What was the right thing to do? She'd prayed for wisdom, but she had no clear sense of direction yet.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it illustrates what I mean by writing with a Christian worldview: Christian fiction writers see the same world that fatalists see, but we see it as God’s world. For this reason, we focus the lens of our narratives on God’s compassion and providence within the world.
Theologian Georgia Harkness observes that "so many people believe life to be meaningless and the hope set forth by Christian faith to be illusory that [fatalists] 'speak to their condition.' There are moments of humor and of brightness and pleasure in such writing, as in life, but for the most part the impression left is that fate condemns man to suffering and sordidness in a meaningless world" (The Providence of God, 53).
We are called, not just to "speak to the condition" of fallen humanity, but to speak of the hope that is ours through the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of our world. Thanks, Colleen, for these skillful examples of how to do it.
Joe
Allison has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian
Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth and daughter Heather. His non-fiction
books include Setting Goals That Count and Swords and Whetstones.
An excellent analysis of how we can share our Biblicak worldview.
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