Did you ever bite into a jelly doughnut and taste only disappointment? It looked perfect on the outside—glazed, golden, squeezably soft as you held it between your fingers. That first squishy bite was going to be so-o-o good and… nothing. No jelly. Just a basic yeast doughnut without the hole. Now, I love yeast doughnuts, but if I buy a jelly doughnut, I’m expecting jelly. I’m disappointed, even angry, if what’s been advertised isn’t delivered.
A lot of people who name themselves “Christian” live jelly-doughnut lives without the jelly. These people look genuine as they sit in church Sunday after Sunday. They say their prayers. They donate to good causes. They abide by the law. They have long-lived marriages where the couples seem to enjoy growing old together. Beautiful doughnuts on the shelf, baked to perfection and gilded in sugar. But wait. So far, we’ve only observed the glaze on the doughnuts. Take a bite and see what’s inside.
Too often, the jelly is missing. These homes do not know contentment. Members of the family are forever striving for more. More money. The latest fashions. That next promotion with more responsibilities and more power on the job. Adulterous affairs in the search for more adventures and more “connection” with a significant other. The more they try to satisfy themselves, the less content they are. The world can rightly feel annoyed at the false advertising and ask, “What makes a Christian different from anybody else?” Something vital to the core of the “Christian” is missing. Jesus is missing.
Jesus is the jelly in the doughnut. Sounds like a corny country music song, “You’re the Jelly in my doughnut, the sweet Heart of my dough…” (Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.) But think about it. Without Jesus, we’re only yeast doughnuts. We may have the glaze. Various aspects of our lives may be delicious, but God wants us to have that jelly center. The Jesus center.
God wants our writing to have that jelly center, too, especially when we claim to write Christian fiction. If all we have is a wholesome-looking cover, nebulous soul-searching throughout the story, and perhaps a mention of church attendance, we haven’t shown Christ to our readers. All we have is a clean read—glaze on the doughnut.
Jelly doesn’t need to ooze from every paragraph. Readers will condemn the book as being too “preachy,” and they’ll want to wipe away excess religiosity. But at its core, the story must promote values of goodness, honesty, kindness, love—the Fruit of the Spirit—all the time pointing to the Author of life.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus, He pours Himself into us, and we pass it forward into our work. The Word of God, followed by a long line of Biblical scholars, teaches us how to find deep contentment, which allows us to generate words expressing our hope for the world. Jesus spoke of being filled with light and salt and treasure. I speak of jelly centers.
Thomas a Kempis said, “There is nothing sweeter than God and His Word.”
Guess I’m in good company.
Linda Sammaritan writes realistic fiction, mostly for kids
ages ten to fourteen. She is currently working on a middle grade trilogy, World Without Sound, based on her own
experiences growing up with a deaf sister.
Linda had always figured she’d teach middle-graders until
school authorities presented her with a retirement wheelchair at the overripe
age of eighty-five. However, God changed those plans when He gave her a growing
passion for writing fiction. In May of 2016, she blew goodbye kisses to her students
and dedicated her work hours to learning the craft. She still visits the school
and teaches creative writing workshops.
Where Linda can be found on the web:
