There’s a list over at over at GoodReads, called “The Worst Books of All Time.” As a novelist and as a Christian, that list saddens me. Why? Because some of those titles include To Kill a Mockingbird, Billy Budd, The Red Badge of Courage, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Forest Gump, Fahrenheit 451, Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Pearl.
While discussing it with some fellow novelists, one said many books by Christians are poorly written. She then felt the need to qualify her statement by affirming that she thinks there are lots of well-written novels by Christians. Probably she didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, and that’s laudable, but it seems to me she had it right the first time.
It’s true many novels by Christians are poorly written. That’s also true of many other kinds of novels. In fact it’s true of most novels of every kind, and readers let writers get away with it because readers too are mediocre. Most of us don’t really care about excellence in literature, or in architecture, sculpture, painting, dance, drama, government, commerce, marriage, or anything else in life that ought to matter. The list at GoodReads is just one of countless proofs of this which can be seen around us everywhere.
What interests me, is why. In our discussion about the “Worst Books” list, some of my author friends speculated that so many people dislike those novels because they were forced to read them in school and disliked them then. But these books truly are works of genius—most of them are, anyway—so why didn’t we love them in the first place?
The answer has to do with what it means to live in a fallen world. As creatures made in the Creator’s image, we were designed to use our gifts to their utmost, and to savor excellence in our neighbor’s use of their gifts. It’s impossible to imagine the words “good enough” being spoken in the Garden before the Fall. But we did fall, and one of the things we lost was our ability to throw ourselves into living with complete abandon. “Good is the enemy of great,” as Jim Collins wrote (paraphrasing Voltaire). Thus, in settling for good enough, we have rampant mediocrity in the world.
It’s impossible to imagine the words “good enough” being spoken in the Garden before the Fall.
Another thing we abandoned in the Fall was our ability to perceive the true extent of what we’ve lost. When expediency and ego dilute the full potential of even our best writers and artists, the audience, being also lost, doesn’t know enough to care. Therefore they applaud what little they can get, and their applause rewards mediocrity. This in turn inspires the production of more mediocrity, and the cycle builds more and more support for itself until mediocrity seems normal, or even (God forbid) good. Because that lie has become pervasive, the true nature of goodness is difficult for even Christians to remember. Thus we have rampant mediocrity even in the church.
The faithful Christian’s life should always include a sense of resisting mediocrity at every turn. It’s a command and a duty. “Whatever you do, do it will all your heart, as if for the Lord and not for men.” (Col 3:23) It’s no coincidence that this command includes the same requirement for wholeheartedness as the Greatest Command of all, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart….”
How can we love the Lord with all our heart? By living every part of life with all our heart. By not settling. By always striving to improve. In other words, as with all of His commands, the Creator simply wants us to live (write, marry, work, etc.) as we were originally created to live…with complete abandonment to what we truly are, which will reveal itself in the constant exercise of excellence in all our gifts.
Don’t believe the lie of “good enough.” You were created to be so much better than that. Strive for excellence in everything you do. In little things as well as big, live with all your heart.
Thank you! Excellent post.When I was in the military, I despised the phrase “Good enough for government work”. Excuse me?! I prefer to do my best, thank you. But It occurs to me that we no longer think we have time to strive for excellence. The sense of urgency – that ticking clock and the never ending to-do list or goal list have convinced us that “good enough” will have to do. I’ve got to move on to the next thing….
Ask yourself, though- What is “good”? Interesting that I inadvertently nearly included a typo. My second “o” didn’t go through, and I typed “god” instead. this is not far off the mark, I suspect. Good is a condition illustrative of God, perhaps? I know the etymology finds its way to a common ancestor.
So how do we avoid the plague of mediocrity as Christian communicators? Do we seek to write (if we’re writers) literature, as compared to pulp novels? How do we know the difference? Some of the works you mentioned were clearly in the category of “literature”, but why? Because they may be in the Great Books curriculum? And what about those who write with all sincerity and with all their heart, yet generate pablum? Even when we generate some modicum of accepted standards, a James Joyce comes along. An example in the Christian world is a novel entitled “The Last Year of the War”. It was not popular, but for those that were used to “literature”, it stood leagues above its other Christian counterparts, but I’m not sure we could have delineated its worth! Please think about this more, and don’t settle for the “pop” perspective- I suspect you have much to add to the conversation, and I look forward to hearing it!