It's a Fine Line

Jesus was a storyteller. That means those of us that love the power of a good story are in great company! Stories are able to flesh out concepts and turn lightbulbs on over our heads (c’mon, you’ve seen it happen!). You can probably rattle off a list of your most beloved tales and  how they have affected you. And as writer, you are pursing that ethereal combination of words that will touch or thrill your readers in much the same way.

One of the blogs I follow had a thought-provoking post today and I felt it was worth sharing since it is relevant to topics I try to write about here. Nadine Brandes is a Christian author who also blogs. I shared another helpful post about “40 Words and Phrases to Search and Destroy When Self-Editing that Nadine blogged about back in March. readingbook

Today’s topic dealt with how we can (potentially) make idols out of our favorite stories because of the spiritual high they offer. I was challenged to access my motivation for reading my favorite books or favorite authors. There’s a fine line between reading stories that move us, inspire us, and challenge us…and reading stories to replace the Word of God that is able to work those same traits into our lives. I confess that I’m guilty of turning to a book, over the Bible, finding the story more compelling and scripture less interesting in comparison.

As with every aspect of our lives, it comes down to checking our motives and being honest with ourselves. And, since the heart can be absolutely deceitful, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about our inner-workings and to give us grace to receive it.

Sheesh, thanks Nadine, for making me accountable for something about which I was blissfully blind! Well, I won’t go down this introspective  road without taking a few of you with me, so here’s the link!

“Can a Spiritual High from Fiction be Dangerous?” **sigh** Apparently so 🙁

P.S. I need to add the disclaimer that I started following Nadine Brandes AFTER I designed my blog. The fact that we have similar tag lines for our blogs is purely the coincidence of two great minds thinking alike (at least that’s how I’d like to think of it!).

 

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  1. Great article and something I’ve struggled with and against my whole life. There are sections of Lord of the Rings I probably know, much to my shame, better than the Bible. The Bible, much of it, is penned in a traditionally mythological way which can be very challenging to read because most of the emotion has been removed. This makes it seem dry and all those other books a little easier to read over the Bible. At least for me. So I raise my coffee mug and say here, here!
    It also makes me thankful for good preaching. God gifts us with men who have the minds to read and study the scripture and then bring it to us and help us see not dry bones, but a living and powerful sword. 🙂

    2. One other thought…Job is one of my favorite books of the Bible for several reasons. In particular, it’s more descriptively moving and paints a powerful picture of God (& Leviathan!). Job 26 ends with this comment about the Almighty: “Indeed, these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!” Ahhh! Most beautiful line of scripture!!!