I made a post over at the Lost Genre Guild about Facing the Giants and how it’s principles applied to the ideas of speculative fiction. I got a comment that I’d love to expand on, but don’t feel quite like turning the Lost Genre Guild into a debating zone:
I wonder how much of Facing the Giants mirrors the reality that most Christians face. From what I’ve heard, when the coach becomes a Christian, all his troubles reverse course. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)
Is that the reality of becoming a Christian? Or does the movie give us a glamorized view of the Faith that sets unreal expectations?
I’m always hearing about the need for us writers to write pieces that are “grittier,” so I would assume that this means that not every ending is happy.
I know a pastor who died suddenly in his thirties, and his family was left destitute.
I’ve known plenty of good Christians who didn’t get the miracle they prayed so hard for.
I’ve known Christians whose churches abandoned them at the point of their greatest need.
But you don’t hear those stories. When the promise comes after life is over, does that make for the same kind of story as Facing the Giants? We don’t like to think that our reward will solely be in heaven and not this side of it. That doesn’t sell books or movies.
Yet as writers, to be true to reality, we have to write those stories. We have to reflect Habakkuk–sometimes the fig tree does not blossom, but we rejoice anyway. That’s so much harder to write. Perhaps that’s why we shy away from writing those stories.
Well, of course Coach Grant Taylor is a Christian throughout. He changes his team’s and his own focus, which is key to the changes that occur. What critics never seem to emphasize is that Taylor’s turnaround occurs after six straight losing seasons and four years of infertility. Now, please don’t tell me that situation is some glamourized picture of the Christian life!
With the two examples of the destitute pastor’s family and the person abandonned by their church, the misunderstanding comes in as to when the story actually ends.
“Pastor dies, family left destitute. The End.”
Is that really how we would end the story? This would be akin to ending the movie Braveheart with William Wallace’s death and leaving out that whole heroic battle and Robert the Bruce saying, “You bled with Wallace, now bleed with me.” Of course, some might nitpick that “Braveheart” isn’t 100% historically accurate. But you could do the same thing by making a movie about a soldier at Valley Forge and ending the movie with his death.
No, uplifting ending. No point to any of it. The End. We’ve been realistic. Or have we?
The Bible tells us, “All things work together for good.” (Rom. 8:28) So realistically, even the negative things in life have a point or are redeemed. For he is called “Our Redeemer.”
Christian Fiction is replete with characters who have experienced pain and trauma. One example that comes to mind is Frank Peretti’s protagonist in “The Visitation.” We meet him as a widower disillusioned with the church, full of pain and regret.
As a writer, I often choose to meet my character at the bottom of the hill and watch him climb back up. I certainly don’t want to leave a protagonist in a place of utter misery and pointlessness unless I’m planning on revisiting him.
I truly believe there’s no limit to where good can spring up where pain and sorrow has ravaged. Even death itself is powerless against God’s greatness. So every pain and every wound in our lives can be used to shape us into who God has created us to be.
For most readers, plodding through hundreds of pages of drudgery and misery to get to the hope is too much. So, unlike in real life, we skip the greater part of the descent, meet at the bottom and watch the climb back up.
When reading or watching stories of hope, it gives me hope that my sorrow and sadness can end in joy. And the Bible tells us that hope is one of three things that abides, and it is hope we need. Through all of our sufferings, we can carry on, if only we know that God will redeem the years that the Locusts have eaten.
As a writer, I don’t believe my business is to provide a “realistic ending” which denies the faithfulness of God, but rather no matter what sorrow may happen or woes may come, God will move. Though, death and sickness, pain, sadness, and hurt fill our lives, God is there and has a purpose in it.
As they hymnist said, “The Lord moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the sea and he rides on every storm. He’s his own interpreter and he’s going to make it plain.”
