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? Episode sponsors Enclave Publishing: Above the Circle of Earth by E. Stephen Burnett Sunrise Publishing: Squire of Truth by Jill Williamson Kickstarter for A Study in Shattered Spells by Josiah DeGraaf 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 b
