When I started writing my first novel, Through the Fury to the Dawn, over six years ago, I set out to do something that I felt had not been done before – at least not to the degree that I wanted to take it. That thing was to write a story with strong Christian themes that was chock full of the grit and grime and general tragedy many of us have seen in life.

We are no longer in the compartmentalized 80′s and 90′s where Christianity in media was something that needed to mirror “Real” movies, books, and music. Christian musicians, for the first time, are really carving into new frontiers with their music instead of trying to be the “Christian version of” fill in the blank – and they are being respected by secular and Christian fans as the artists that they are.

Christians and Non-Christians alike are calling out for Christian media that they can invest in and connect with – not something that feels fake and full of geared emotion.

More and more the Christian community is wanting to connect with and experience the struggles of real people who identify with their faith – not perfect cardboard cutouts. They want to see true evil embodied in realistic villains – like the ones they see on the six o’clock news – not paper tigers. They want to be apart of a story that feels genuine like the secular stories do. Just look at the genre defying success of books like “The Shack”.

I’m tired of talking about “how far is too far” in terms of content. Life doesn’t have boundaries for content and our work should reflect that. Does this mean we will alienate some individuals who can’t or don’t want to handle the more extreme content? I believe it does – but seeing as the market is already saturated with plenty of options for the more conservative consumer – I think they’ll be fine.

I’m not saying the message of the Gospel should be altered or tainted or that we as Christians shouldn’t uphold the pillars of what we believe – but we have to start showing life in our stories. Real life. Bad guys cuss, good guys have vices, and everybody is full of sin and in need of the saving blood of Christ.

They are calling for us – all of us who create – to step forward and take Christian media to the next level. We are the front line. Where we go from here is on us.

What are your thoughts?