The Things You Have Been Taught; Pt. 2

Pro-Truth but Not Afraid of Fiction

It is foundationally crucial to base our faith in the Truth of God’s Word. Likewise, we must remember that we have been totally redeemed by the work of Christ – including our imaginations. We need not fear whimsy, or fairy tales, or stories of fantasy, but instead discern the difference between creative imaginings and destructive rubbish. The truth and power of God --Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is sufficient to protect our hearts, minds, and faith from fairy tales and imaginary villains and enchantments. Pumpkins that turn into carriages need not scandalize us.

Regardless of our personal tastes, let us stop demeaning our faith by outrageously opposing simple fantasy and fairy tale. The key is to delineate our faith from fantasy, our worship from entertainment. The Word of God is not threatened by Grimm, Spielberg, or even J K Rowling. Far more threatening is the misinterpretation and intentional misuse of God’s Word by false prophets of cheap grace and casual obedience. Let us be scandalized by manipulated scripture, not invented fiction.

I believe that the more we immerse ourselves in the truth, the less threatening fiction becomes. A respected teacher I once had suggested that it is exactly the exposure to the wonders and magic of fairy tales and fantasy, science fiction and novel that opens and trains our mind to be able to accept the wonder and mystery and reality of the Spiritual Realm. If it is not your taste, fine – but please let’s stop maligning the imaginative works of creativity and save our indignation for creations of filth that demean the weak, deprive the poor, destroy beauty and wonder, and manipulate what’s holy.

Let's DO something about it:

• Reflect on C S Lewis’ quote, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” What do you think he meant?
• Consider what criteria you put on acclaiming or disclaiming literature, art, music, etc. Is your criteria based in Truth or bias?
• Look at Philippians 4:8-9. Consider defining and writing down your standards for evaluating the arts. What is your primary measure of what is "good" and what is "bad"?