How Effective is Evangelistic Fiction?

Perhaps I am simply an old cynic. Or maybe I’ve lost sight of how often God uses the foolish to show up the world. But whatever the reason, I found myself again wondering how really effective are the stories like The God Hater—stories written to make a point, often showcasing the basics of the Gospel, which here I’ll simply call evangelistic fiction.

For God does use evangelistic fiction; there’s no denying that. Such stories have a place in the market. And in many ways, it is better to err on the side of incorporating the truth clearly than to produce stories so obscure, so like the secular market, that few can see the difference between Christians and non-Christians. After all, we are responsible for declaring the truth, not for how others respond to it.

On the other hand, evangelistic fiction often feels like the literary equivalent of preaching a four-point gospel message to a Christian congregation. For truthfully, these kinds of books seem to rarely travel much outside Christian circles.

Again, this can be good and is even needed at times. But how much is necessary?

Most of those who don’t know Christ—those who need to be evangelized—are out there, beyond the walls of the church, beyond the realms of “Christian fiction.” Very few come to us; we must go to them usually. With writing, that then often requires a story written so well and which touches the heart so deeply that it can carry its great content to the outside. Few of the evangelistic books I’ve read meet that requirement, and truthfully, most of the non-Christians I know would chuck those books after a few pages.

Rather, it seems like the majority who read Christian fiction already follow Christ. While we need to be reminded of these truths (otherwise we wouldn’t need communion), how many times must we lay the foundation? Should not most of our work among fellow-believers focus on encouragement, growth, and maturity? Why then does so much Christian fiction seem to focus on the basics rather than developing faith? Might this even be harmful, not helpful, because it permits us to stay babies, feasting on the spiritual highs of a new faith? Might that not lead to discouragement when God removes these highs because of the incomplete picture it paints of following Christ? It makes me wonder.

Which brings me back to the original question: How effective is evangelistic fiction? I’m not sure I have answer. Or perhaps the answer is simpler than I am trying to make it: Evangelistic fiction is as effective as God wants it to be. After all, in the end, we may plant and we may water, but it is God who makes it grow.