Truth in Story: Why Fiction Reaches the Heart

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

I believe fiction can be a vehicle to communicate truth.

From the moment I sensed a call to write, I understood my focus would be using story to communicate truth. This isn’t an original concept. Jesus spoke in parables and revealed deep spiritual principles through the power of story. When the disciples asked Him why, I imagine they were a little irritated.

“Why can’t Jesus just explain the ways of God?”

“It seems like He’s beating around the bush and wasting time. We have other people to visit.”

“These people can see the miracles and hear His teachings. So why the stories?”

Four thoughts come to mind about Jesus’ method of speaking to others:

1. Jesus is God, and He has the perfect means of conveying truth. Authority goes a long way.
2. People often resist direct instruction. We’re a rebellious sort. Given the opportunity, we insist we know best and don’t need God. So dwelling on shoulds and should-nots can make us cranky.
3. Since time began, stories have entertained people. We love a good tale.
4. Story provides a nonthreatening environment to convey difficult truths.

Let’s look at three examples of how story can impact readers in a safe, nonthreatening way to instill truth.

A woman is physically abused by her husband. She feels trapped and doesn’t know where to turn. She can’t safely read a nonfiction guide because her husband might find it. But she can read a novel in which a woman faces the same nightmare. Through watching a character find courage to rise above her circumstances, the reader begins to take steps toward healing.

A little boy doesn’t understand why his mother died. He’s in counseling and surrounded by people who love him, but he doesn’t believe they understand his loss. He’s afraid to express his anger. When he reads a story about a child who has lost a parent, he experiences those same emotions through the written word. He becomes receptive to working through his grief.

A man in his thirties looks back on his life and sees lawbreaking, drug abuse, and an inability to keep a job. While sitting in jail, he reads a novel about a man who regrets his past but chooses to change. The character climbs out of despair, leaves old friends behind, and enrolls in night school while holding down a job.

Think about how easy it is to become lost within a story. Readers experience the adventure, living the thrills and defeats on every page. As writers create memorable characters, they give them problems to solve and goals to achieve. They place them in challenging settings and throw in everything that could go wrong—allowing characters to grow and discover truths that enrich both mind and soul.

Spiritual values are quietly delivered into our hearts—often without us realizing it.

How much easier is it to engage with a character as an object lesson than to have a finger pointed at us? Sprinkle a story with love, hate, forgiveness, sacrifice, and godly living versus earthly selfishness, and we have Biblical truth wrapped in fiction. Makes sense to me.

My advice to writers is to pen a dynamic story where characters solve problems from a Christian worldview. Study the craft so your story entertains, inspires, encourages, and reveals truth.

Where God dwells, there is truth. And that means in the heart of fiction, He has glory.

What are your thoughts about fiction offering truth?