Please note that I am discussing, briefly, aspects of the plot of Right Where They Belong: Sutton Series Book 1 in this article.
I had an interesting thing happen. A Christian bookstore declined to carry my book because they found a cuss word in it. I explained that one of the main characters isn’t a Christian at the beginning of the book and that, in fact, the book is the story of his journey to Christ. It contains his conversion. His language is one of the aspects of his life that he works on and deals with on his journey. The book has just a handful of these occurrences and never goes heavy.
The proprietor wasn’t convinced.
I knew this time would come–when the most conservative of readers would decline because they don’t want to have such language in their books of choice. I understand and respect this, but it did cause me to start thinking.
And here is what I’m thinking.
Jesus’ line of work is sinners, right? In Mark 2:17 He said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” As a current Christian, I rejoice when someone comes to Christ–when they become my brother or sister eternally. I also know that they, like I, have a lifelong road ahead of them fighting sin and seeking to be more Christ-like.
If I were to reject them because they are still working on the language aspect of their journey, what kind of message would that send? Am I encouraging and exhorting, or am I condemning? Am I expecting them to be perfect immediately? Am I perfect–ever? Maybe I’m expecting them to be where I am in the journey.
Is that realistic?
I am saved, but I am still a sinner. I still fight sin in my life and struggle with it. What if I don’t cuss, but I have another sin that I struggle with? What if a fellow Christian rejects me, rather than encouraging and exhorting me, because of that sin? How will I feel about myself? How will I feel about them?
If my faith thread feels tenuous to me, will such a behavior strengthen or weaken it?
All this leads me to another thought. If we are going to reject language as an unreadable sin, what other sins will we reject in our reading material? Alcohol? Stealing? Lying? Sexual immorality? Murder? Gluttony?
Where do we draw the line on what sinful behaviors we refuse to acknowledge in our art?
Sin is ugly, but it is REAL. We don’t stop struggling with it when we accept the gift of salvation. On the contrary, we may struggle more because God is opening our eyes to its presence in our lives. If all we are willing to read about is Christians who do things perfectly–or new converts who don’t actually struggle with anything at all in their lives, will either of those scenarios resonate with any of us, since we are most assuredly struggling with something in our own lives?
And what about the unsaved? Would those kinds of sanitized stories be appealing to the seeking, those whose lives most definitely aren’t sanitized?
To be sure, these ugly realities can be dealt with in an ugly way, and they often are. But they can also be dealt with in a realistic way without leaving the reader feeling sullied. I realize we all have different levels of tolerance for the things that might leave us feeling sullied, and this is where I’d like to hear your thoughts.When you read my book, I’d like your honest opinion on how I did with Marcus and his journey toward faith. Did the representation of his struggle with language leave you feeling sullied, or did it feel honest?
I honestly look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Right Where They Belong: Sutton Series Book 1
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