My Three Favorite Christian Novels

Essay #2

My Three Favorite Christian Novels
By Julia Hopkins
5/5/10

Many people enjoy a good novel. Some read for entertainment. They want to be swept away from reality and taken into another world temporarily. They want to run on the beach on some deserted island in the Caribbean or scale a mountain in the Far East. A well-written novel can vicariously take them there. Others want to be educated and may choose to read historic fiction that will teach them about a specific period in time. They can learn what it was like for a slave on the Underground Railroad or what foods were eaten at medieval feasts. I, however, like novels that engage my mind in deeper issues. Books that challenge me to live a better Christian life. My three favorite Christian novels are In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, Soon by Jerry Jenkins, and Yada, Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson.

While in college I was given In His Steps by a classmate who claimed that it changed her life. I had never enjoyed reading but began to flip through this book because I respected the person that gave it to me. Before long, much to my surprise, I was engulfed in its pages. This book tells the story of a church group that has an unusual encounter with a homeless person, which teaches them about being the hands and feet of Jesus. They begin to ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” and vowed to do that very thing, no matter what the consequence for an entire year. The book then chronicles their experiences both good and bad with this new venture of doing everything, living every part of their lives, as Jesus would have them. Naturally, after reading this moving story I began to look at my life and wonder if I were truly being the hands and feet of Jesus. Was I really doing what Jesus wanted or just trying to fit my wants into His will? This book caused me to ask, “What would Jesus do?” before making any decision in my life, big or small. Just as with my college classmate, it changed my life.

Soon by Jerry Jenkins was another book that caused me to think hard about my life as a Christian. It takes place in a fictional world where all religion is outlawed. To be a Christian in this fabricated universe is a criminal act and the Church is forced deep underground. The protagonist starts out as a non-believer in a very high position in government. He is promoted to a special unit that hunts down Christians to have them killed. Then much like Paul in the Bible, this man is blinded and begins his life as a believer after he is healed. This caused me to contemplate my life. I wondered how I would do in a world where worshiping God is illegal. Would I fit in? Would I be killed for my belief? Would anything about my life change at all? These are the provoking thoughts that Mr. Jenkins’ book awoke in me, and why I have read it more than once.

The last book that has seriously affected my walk with Christ is really a series of books by Neta Jackson that center on a group of ladies who meet at a women’s conference in Chicago. These girls have nothing in common yet they form a real and lasting friendship with one another. They are from different ethnic backgrounds, social standings and life circumstances. The only thing that keeps them together is Christ. The Yada, Yada Prayer Group books follow the lives of these women as they live day-to-day and meet up with one another every other week to pray for and encourage one another. It may sound boring to some but it hit me right where I live. I identified greatly with the main character, a preachers kid from a conservative family in Iowa, who moved to Chicago with her husband and kids. She had little experience with city life or other cultures when she first became a part of this group yet she was willing to get out of her box to experience love in a Godly way. After reading these books I began asking myself things like, “Whom do I ask to pray for me when something happens in my life?” And “Am I really a prayer warrior for my friends like these ladies?” Neta Jackson’s books even inspired me to start my own ladies prayer group.

These three books have touched my life deeply. They have caused me to look at my Christian walk in a whole new way. Novels that are entertaining but also have a deeper spiritual message are special. One day I would love to write a book that would touch the life of someone the way these books have touched me. And who knows, maybe my book will be the subject of an essay such as this in the future?