{"id":4558,"date":"2020-06-07T16:30:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T20:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/?p=4558"},"modified":"2020-07-28T17:48:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T21:48:30","slug":"a-closer-look-at-christian-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/a-closer-look-at-christian-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Look at … Christian Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why We NEED Christian Romance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Roseanna M. White<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Romance has taken a lot of flack over the years\u2014from being equated with evil by some church leaders to just being dismissed by the intelligentsia. Authors of the genre have had to fight for respect, for understanding, even for legitimacy. Which is funny\u2026because it\u2019s always been (and will likely always be) the sales leader in book circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever wonder why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a writer, editor, cover designer, and reader of Christian Romance, I have. I\u2019ve given it years\u2019 worth of thought. And I think it\u2019s no coincidence that stories that focus on the heart, on finding \u201cthe one,\u201d continue to resonate with readers. They resonate, because it\u2019s a common experience. It\u2019s a subject that is of the utmost importance in all our lives. And we see it time and again as symbol of that greatest Love of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s examine some of the arguments against the genre\u2026and why I think those \u201cweaknesses\u201d are in fact its strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argument 1: It leads married women to be dissatisfied with their marriages.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a rather lengthy article back in 2011, a prominent pastor not only accused Christian romance novels of leading women to becoming dissatisfied with their marriages by comparing their husbands to the \u201cperfect alpha-males\u201d of the romance genre, he equated it with \u201cemotional pornography.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a writer who considers her books a ministry, I was deeply offended by this assumption, which based its argument more on erotica books than any Christian romance I\u2019d ever read, and made the claim that Christian romance simply \u201creplaced sex with prayer\u201d in the pages. Um\u2026no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebuttal to Argument 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any book, even the Bible itself, can stir negative thoughts in the reader. A woman who is unhappy in her marriage can find a million ways to compare her husband to others and find him lacking\u2014in books, on television shows, even in church, when she sees other men acting with love toward their spouses. These women who are aware of their own tendencies and make strides to keep them in check by not reading romance are very wise to do so. And it is my prayer\u2014and should be the prayer of every Christian author\u2014that any book I have anything to do with will NOT make it into the hands of anyone whom it could hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for the majority of women, romance novels don\u2019t make us compare: they remind us. They remind us of the importance of love. They remind us of that excitement we felt when we first met our husbands. They remind us that we have the power to choose, every day, to be the kind of wife he needs. More, a Christian romance shows us what a godly<\/em> romance should look like; that it\u2019s about more than boy + girl. It\u2019s about boy + girl + God. And that by drawing ever closer to Him, we can draw closer to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argument 2: It can \u201cawaken passion before its time\u201d in unmarried women.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve heard quite a few Christian parents say that unmarried young women should steer clear of anything with a whiff of romance. That if a girl fills her mind with such stories, she\u2019s going to be thinking way too much about it. She\u2019s going to be neglecting her own goals, her own calling, her own education, and instead thinking about finding Mr. Right. And that if she\u2019s so focused on romance, she\u2019s also more likely to fall into sexual sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebuttal to Argument 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can see the wisdom in discouraging teens from reading secular romances that are all about the physical side of things\u2026but Christian Romance is something entirely different. And here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the majority of romances in the genre have strong heroines who are chasing dreams, pursuing their callings, and seeking full lives on their own before love finds them. The focus is not on physical passion\u2026but it\u2019s probably going to come up. And this is IMPORTANT. Why? Because it WILL COME UP for us all. And if we\u2019ve given no thought to it, how do we know how to handle it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Christian romance novel will show us what a godly love story<\/a> looks like\u2014how we can choose to stay strong even when tempted; how two people that God has yoked together can be stronger together than apart (though individually strong); how we should treat each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So shouldn\u2019t we be taught how to differentiate between emotion and something deeper? Shouldn\u2019t we identify what makes someone a good versus a bad partner? Shouldn\u2019t we have an idea of what a relationship with a godly man should look like? This is actually what I love about Christian romance\u2013it\u2019s not all about finding the alpha male who\u2019s super sexy. It\u2019s about finding someone who makes the heroine better. Through whom they grow closer to God. It\u2019s about showing us all that we are worthy of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argument 3: It degrades women by saying our identity is wrapped up in a man.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some will claim that if so much attention is focused on finding a mate, a woman won\u2019t actually be an independent person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebuttal to Argument 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are communal creatures. Tribal. Family-oriented. We are created to live with others. Doing so doesn\u2019t negate our personal identities\u2014it enhances them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be real here: most of us will get married. Have kids. Not all, obviously\u2014but the majority. This is part of our DNA\u2026and more, part of God\u2019s plan for us. If we argue with that, aren\u2019t we in fact arguing with Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Romances show us how we can take our own dreams and meld them with another\u2019s. This isn\u2019t a negative\u2014it\u2019s a positive. And moreover, it\u2019s a high calling indeed to build a family<\/a>. Why would we judge each other or a heroine in a novel for wanting that? For desiring above all to follow that very first directive God gave us? But wanting to be a wife and mother doesn\u2019t make us less<\/em>. It makes us more<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argument 4: They\u2019re just stupid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, this is a paraphrase, but I\u2019m using it to sum up all the arguments I\u2019ve heard over many, many years that basically call any romantic novel \u201ctrash,\u201d unworthy of anyone who\u2019s serious. Why not just read non-fiction? Or literary fiction? What in the world is the point of this nonsense?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebuttal to Argument 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Shakespeare said, \u201cThe play is the thing.\u201d Stories have immense power\u2014power to make us think new thoughts, to empathize, to feel things we\u2019ve never felt before. Stories show us Truth that mere facts often can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Christian Romances in particular\u2026they show us how God loves us. Have you ever counted how many times Jesus uses brides, bridegrooms, and weddings in his illustrations or analogies? He even calls the Church His bride!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does He choose this analogy? Well, I daresay in part because it\u2019s basic, common, something easily understood. But that\u2019s not the only reason. It\u2019s also because the love we feel for that special someone is such a perfect analogy for our relationship with Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pursues us. We wait for Him. We can live our lives on our own, yes, but we are oh so much better once we put our hand in His. We\u2019re stronger together. And once we\u2019ve found Him, we know we always have someone to turn to. Someone to comfort us in our tears and laugh with us in our joys. Someone to work through the problems with us and whisper encouragement in our ear when we think we can\u2019t take one more step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a Savior who sacrificed everything for us. And that\u2019s a kind of love I\u2019ve seen played out time and again in the pages of a good Christian Romance novel. Which is why, time and again, I\u2019ll turn to them when I need a reminder of how much God loves me\u2026and of how I\u2019m called to love in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Listen to Roseanna’s Podcast on unExpressed!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where she and publisher David White talk about the foundation and calling of WhiteFire, here career’s ups and downs, why everyone should read romance, and why we need to #bebetter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n