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For all the years we’ve kept up with Christian-made fiction, many authors have hoped to “cross over.” They don’t want to reach only readers who are Christians. Instead, they also want to influence unbelievers. This is a great goal, to be sure. But when may our pictures of “unbelievers” not match with reality? And just within the last few years, has the “general audience” shifted so gradually that they might enjoy more overt Christian-made fiction?

Mission update

• Lorehaven Onscreen: Captain America: Brave New World
• Lorehaven Onscreen, coming this Thursday: House of David
• Reviews: The Springborn last week, Above the Circle of Earth this Friday
• Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild

Concession stand

• This episode does mention politics, but on the way to weightier matters.
• Some ideas wrongly labeled “politics” are really about cultural changes.
• For instance, how we define human beings, marriage, families, religions.
• We loosely define the word “woke” as secular/leftist orthodoxy or tropes.

1. How do we imagine ‘the general audience’?

• By “we,” I mean Christian authors/leaders in the fantastical communities.
• Many authors have long wanted to break out of Christian “bubbles.”
• After all, some Christians don’t like/care about fantastical fiction.
• But we believe “the world” certainly does love these kinds of stories.
• So for marketing reasons, it makes sense to appeal to general readers.
• Christians may also have biblical motive: to be witnesses in the world.
• We may not want to evangelize people, but be pictures of Jesus to them.
• We’d like to step around other people’s prejudice against Christianity.
• And that’s where our attempts may fall flat, or else be subject to bias.
• Based on our own experience, and conversations, we can get myopic.
• We may assume all unbelievers share our negative views of “the church.”
• And when you mix in political tropes, well, we’re very quickly captured.

• Example: another recent mid but strange “He Gets Us” big game ad.
• This ad seemed to think “what is greatness?” plays big for unbelievers.
• Pictures showed more acts of humility (as seen by particular Christians).
• Similarly, last year’s ad took pains to challenge “those bad Christians.”
• Many Christians assume others are motivated by dislike of “the church.”
• Some well-intended Christians repeat this rather narrow understanding.
• It really does seem more based on the Christian’s own projected views.
• But actual unbelievers are a diverse lot. Some are wounded. Some hate.
• Depending on your area, unbelievers may have no church experience.
• Most, it seems, are often preoccupied by trivia or games on phones.
• Lewis’s Screwtape: Demons do best not by argument, but distraction.
• These narrow or outdated notions tend to affect Christian creative folks.
• We need to be aware of “positive world, neutral world, negative world.”

2. But what is the actual ‘general audience’?

• For most faithful Christian authors, today’s “general audience” is no longer a bunch of secular folks with bad church experiences who just need to see Christian love or creative excellence.
• That may have been true before, but it’s no longer true for this era.
• If you want stories with Sexualityism, identity politics, and/or overt sensual content, few faithful Christian authors may tempt you away.
• They won’t be assuaged by our pleas that we’re better/holier/politer.
• In fact, many “woke”-friendly folks quite enjoy their side of “culture war”!
• Maybe you’re called to that space. If so, then God help you go therefore!
• We are here, however, talking about general trends and not exceptions.
• Please note that we’ve had guests on this very podcast who have told us they got their creative experience in secular settings, but eventually needed to leave because of the clear hostility against their faith.
• These folks are loving, excellent, and have their own frustrations with some churches, but they’re still unable to “reach the lost” as creators.

• Today’s “general audience” for Christian-made stories look very different:
  • They are not closed, but open to public expressions of Christianity.
  • They tend to be culturally conservative, or at least “anti-woke.”
  • That means they dislike movies, games, shows that seem “woke.”
  • This includes “DEI” (particular views of social policy) and other ideas.
  • They don’t watch much TV, but they really like listening to podcasts.
  • Often they perceive more foes among secularists than Christians.
  • Most of them voted with the majority in the recent U.S. elections.
  • They’re feeling more optimistic about the cultural shift in the U.S.
  • They’re the reason for what many call a “vibe shift,” also globally.
  • See this article, “Vibe Shift,” from Santiago Pliego at Substack.
  • Also reference this article by Niall Ferguson in The Free Press.
• Most important for us, these folks tend to be fans of fantastical stories.
  • Many of them are men, often young men, interested in philosophy.
  • They can be Very Online, engaging in free speech, maybe trolling.
  • They are readers, board gamers, video gamers, content creators.
  • Best of all, they don’t really have stigmas about “Christian fiction.”
• Years ago, Stephen identified this group as a key Lorehaven audience:

1. Christian fans, individuals who enjoy reading/making these stories
2. Homeschool families, clans who train their kids to love reading books
3. Church influencers, evangelical leaders open to good fantastical fiction
4. Cultural conservatives, non-Christians who are open to biblical virtues

• This “vibe shift” marks the rise of that last group, cultural conservatives.

3. What are the ‘vibe shift’ pros and cons?

Advantages abound for Christian creators of fantasy

• As mentioned, these readers don’t have stigmas about these stories.
• They don’t dislike churches; in fact, many are drawn back to church!
• Many have come to believe absolute evil and God’s law before anything.
• That leads some to find not just His law but His saving gospel in Christ.
• Others (like Jordan Peterson) might not clearly believe in Jesus, but they recognize that Christianity has great benefits to culture and institutions.
• So they delight in stories that are “wholesome” and traditionally moral.
• They like books, or else want to like books, which is often close enough.
• And they listen to long-form podcasts, eager to cultivate their minds.
• Stephen has seen folks eager to hear about Above the Circle of Earth
• Some are not Christian, or else pre-Christian, or sometimes hard to tell …
• How much more may non-overt Christian-made stories appeal to them!

But we may face new threats while engaging this culture

• Some of these folks want to take “parts” from Christianity, such as the Bible’s teaching about virtue and institutions, but reject Jesus Himself.
• Or because of an anti-institution posture, some reject good institutions.
• These folks live in bad “neighborhoods” near bigots and misogynists.
• We see worse notions, like overt racism, anti-Jewish hatred, and hatred.
• Thus, if we want to connect with these folks, we may risk internalizing what they believe is good, and letting this influence our imaginations.
• This would be a mirror-universe version of old “seeker-friendly” shtick.
• A milder yet bad risk: some folks in this space like to live for the fight.
• Like old veterans of “culture wars,” they simply refuse to stop fighting.
• At a recent Daily Wire “Backstage” event at a conservative conference, pundits Ben Shapiro, Jeremy Boreing (who’s making a Pendragon Cycle streaming series), Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Andrew Klavan agreed: there’s no use defending virtue unless you use them to build.
• So these folks who reject bad institutions must learn what they’re for.
• That’s where stories, appeals to imagination, can do more than sermons.
• Yet no matter who’s “the majority” in culture, no matter where the “vibe” is shifting, our chief end is to glorify God, not please sinful humans.

Com station

Top question for listeners

• Have you witnessed the “vibe shift” away from secular notions and toward Christianity(-ish) ideas?

Next on Fantastical Truth

The fight for the Space Mission begins in his homeworld. Brock Rivers never wanted to be a repairman on Mars. Years ago, he failed to protect his family, and now he labors across a frontier planet to keep his children alive and escape CAUSE. Now he is summoned back to Earth for an impossible dream: to resist CAUSE, confront the secret adversaries among his own people, and to restore gospel missions in the 22nd century, Above the Circle of Earth.