The importance of stories

Several months ago, somebody told me that when she became a Christian, she stopped reading fiction. My first thought was: “That’s a shame”, but then I realised that actually she’s been missing out on an awful lot. So you may be pleased to hear that I recommended some good novels to her!

This year is the UK’s National Year of Reading, which is described as “a UK-wide campaign designed to inspire more people to make reading a regular part of their lives”. This can’t come too soon, as statistics about declining literacy rates are alarming. We obviously want to encourage strong literacy amongst our children, the benefits being multifaceted: improved focus, better mental health, increased vocabulary (statistics: literarytrust.org.uk). As Christians, the implications of this are clear: improved literacy will help with Bible reading, study and discussion. But it goes deeper. Stories for the sake of stories are important too. Statistics show that facts presented within stories are remembered up to 22 times more easily than facts alone (johnmillen.com). Our brains were designed for stories.

God uses stories

We can’t dismiss the fact that God chose words as His primary means for communicating with humanity. Jesus is the Word of God who came into the world. The Bible is comprised of stories, which were of course first shared in an oral tradition. This is about so much more than literacy. All of the Bible is true, but some of it is fictional as well as true: think of the parables Jesus told, for example. He knew his listeners would grasp truths more easily through stories.

If we dismiss fiction as unimportant for our children, and indeed ourselves, might we be dismissing a part of what it is to be human?

Stories, too, give us common ground for discussing moral dilemmas, personal attributes, compassion, justice, right and wrong. From “Do you think Winnie the Pooh was acting as a good friend there?” to “What do you think Jim Hawkins should have done?” We never want consuming fiction to take precedence over reading Scripture, but there is certainly room for both. And reading stories to our kids that may be too difficult for them to read for themselves is a great way of giving them the taste for great stories. Family read-alouds are one of my favourite parts of the day, even though my kids are competent independent readers now.

Which stories?

But of course we need to use discernment in what stories to allow our children to engage with, both in books and on screen. It’s right that our children have more freedom to choose their own content the older they get, but we still need to train our children in wise discernment even when they are in their later teens.

Each family will need to make these decisions for themselves, but I would question the helpfulness of a blanket ban on certain types of content. A case by case choice is likely more helpful.

Some questions that might be helpful are: Does this story glorify sin? Might this tempt my child into sin? What is the lifestyle and character of the author like? Are Christians portrayed, and if so, how? Is God dishonoured within this story? Might this promote the demeaning of somebody who is made in the image of God?

Christians in the arts

At times it feels like there’s a dearth of good fictional content for ourselves and our children to engage with. We need more Christians working in the arts. Historically, there were many Christians who were artists, novelists, filmmakers and more, but perhaps there are fewer today. But if our Bible-believing children don’t learn a love of stories they will never grow up to enter artistic professions, and the number of believers bringing God’s light into arts-based industries will diminish further.

As Francis Schaeffer put it: “The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.” Let’s pray for those Christians in the arts, and that our children would develop God-honouring imaginations that will fly beyond the stars.