10 Novels for Discipleship

As pastors, we often find ourselves recommending non-fiction books to those we’re discipling, but what if we also recommended fiction?

Because so much of what I’ve learned about my faith has come from reading about the lives of fictional characters, I’ve taken to suggesting these books when discipling others. While non-fiction directly addresses the conscious, rational mind, fiction sidles up to the whole mind and takes us on a journey where ideas are not only explained but also experienced.

Christian neurologist, Curt Thompson, notes in Anatomy of the Soul, the example of the prophet Nathan using story to call King David to repentance:

“[The] power of story-telling goes beyond the border of the story itself. It moves into the nooks and crannies of our memories and emotions, sometimes gently, sometimes explosively, revealing, awakening, shocking, calling. This is what happens to David, and his heart is revealed.”

Given fiction’s powerful ability to affect the heart, I’ve compiled the following list of recommendations. Of course, almost any book has spiritual themes. But I’ve selected titles where the author is purposefully working through major themes of faith. Since, for our purposes here, we’re interested in spiritual lessons from the narratives, I’ve included some questions the books raised for me while reading them. These may be the kind of questions we bring to these books and may also serve as helpful discussion questions after reading them.

These were most meaningful to those I disciple because I had read them first and so I encourage you to read a few of these titles for your own growth and enjoyment and bear them in mind for those you disciple:

1. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis: the emotional side of belief.

No list of Christian fiction would be complete without a work from Clive Staples. One of his lesser-known novels, Till We Have Faces, is a strange story inspired by the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche. It explores the relationship between three royal sisters, one pretty but shallow, one beautiful and good, and one ugly and strong.

In spite of its primitive setting the characters remain relatable by drawing us into their hard choices. Lewis is often remembered for his intellectual approach to theology but in this deeply human story he reveals the emotional side of belief, raising questions like: What do we hold onto, to our own soul’s detriment? Where do we find our identity? Do we really want true justice? Do we really want truth?

2. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis: the constant choice we face.

A story about a bus trip from hell to heaven will appeal to anyone who enjoys a little absurdity, but as we might expect from Lewis, the story goes beyond fantasy to delve into depths of human experience. It’s nearly impossible to read without examining our own lives. We’re led to ask: What do we choose throughout our day instead of heaven?

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from the preface of this brief but weighty book: “I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.”

(Interesting side note: In this book you may find, featured as a character, one of the other authors listed here.)

3. The Book of Colors by Raymond Barfield: finding meaning in the midst of darkness.

I first chose to read this book when I noticed that the author was the founding director of Duke Divinity School’s initiatives in Theology, Medicine, and Culture. I assumed that someone bridging the worlds of theology, medicine, and culture would have unique insight into the story of a poor, 19-year-old woman who was awaiting the birth of her child while she watched an old woman die.

There is a darkness to this story of life, death, poverty, and desperation. Still, the protagonist’s voice somehow remains hopeful as she tries to make sense of life, always imagining that meaning can be found.

It made me ask: How much of hopefulness is our choice? Is it possible to deliberately seek out meaning even when life is in transition, to watch for light even when darkness threatens? How can we find meaning in all of life, girded with the hope that it’s there to be found even when it’s hard to see?

4. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald: see the ordinary with new eyes.

This classic was originally published for children but has great value for adults. Lovers of Narnia and Middle-earth will enjoy the world created by MacDonald (an author who inspired both Lewis and Tolkien).

It’s always surprising how transportation to a world very unlike our own, even a world with princesses and goblins, can, at the same time, help us see our own ordinary lives with new eyes. It left me asking questions like: What does it mean to believe in something we don’t see or understand? What does it look like to follow something even though we don’t know where it leads?

5. Lila by Marilynne Robinson: to grow up far from comfort or safety.

With my safe Christian upbringing, it’s easy to have stereotypical ideas about the pre-faith lives of those who grew up far from comfort or safety. Lila’s childhood as a wandering orphan, forced to live by her own wits, seems an unlikely background for a pastor’s wife, yet she finds herself married to a small-town minister. Faith is new to Lila, and she embraces it at a slow and deliberate pace, but she has more integrity than many Christians, and asks honest, but not defensive, questions.

One might expect Lila, who has lived hand-to-mouth her whole life, to rush to the instant gratification and false comforts of a stable life. But Lila is patient with the world, willing to let her new life and relationships unfold at their own pace, including her understanding of her husband and of faith. Her story prompted me to ask: do relationships and, specifically, Christian marriages, (even more specifically, ministry marriages) have to convey perfect peace and unity? Can grace be found in the gaps of our understanding of each other? What do those who are new to faith bring to those of us for whom it’s familiar? How can their questions shake up our comfort? How can the passion of their need for grace challenge our complacency?

6. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice: written after a spiritual awakening.

If you’re comfortable reading historical fiction written by an author who takes poetic license but remains true to the spirit of the biblical story, give Christ the Lord a try. Rice, better known for writing The Vampire Chronicles, wrote this after a spiritual awakening.

She’s not haphazard with her poetic license, listing in her author’s note all the scholarly works she consulted, crediting especially the important work of N.T. Wright. Her careful imagining of Jesus’ life as a 7-year-old made me consider whether Jesus came into the world with full knowledge of his deity and what it meant for God to be a young child. The following book, (Christ the Lord: Out of Cana) tells the story of Jesus as a young man, up to the point of his calling.

Together these stories cause us to consider the nature of Jesus: Did Jesus know his calling from the outset? Or did he, like the rest of us, have to discover it over time? At what point did he begin to have power over creation? Any book about the life of Christ will inevitably cause us to think more deeply about what it meant for him to be fully human and fully divine, a question that cannot be fully answered.

7. Stone Tables by Orson Scott Card: empathy with Moses.

Better known for his Ender’s Game sci-fi series, Orson Scott Card’s Mormon belief is most apparent in his writings about Old Testament figures. In Stone Tables, Card helps readers empathize with Moses the Egyptian, shepherd, and husband before coming to know Moses the leader. Walking with him through these stages of his story brings new dimensions to the person of Moses.

Card brings the same human side to the lives of famous biblical women (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah) in his Women of Genesis series.

The fresh portrayal of these characters made me ask: What does it mean to follow God when his followers are more a people than an institution? What were the daily lives of our Old Testament heroes really like and what can we learn from their imperfect example? Does faith mean a total lack of questioning? What does it mean to be flawed but faithful?

8. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken: where you do not want to go.

I first read this book as a young newlywed and it took to me to a place I did not want to go. It reminded me that marriage was not the answer to all life’s problems. The choices this couple had to make, brought on by the difference in their belief about God and, ultimately, by illness, were disturbing at the time. But looking in on their (true) story prepared me for the challenges of all human relationships and began the lifelong discovery of my deepest hope in God.

It forced me to ask: What does it mean to seek God above all others? What does it mean to be willing to give up all for those we love? Where is God in our suffering?

These words (from a poem quoted in the book, written by a friend of the author) often still come to mind in times of suffering:

“If all is lost, thanks be to God,

For He is He, and I, I am only I.”

9. Silence by Shusaku Endo: how to be victors when we have lost.

In Silence we follow a 17th-century Portuguese priest in Japan during a time of intense persecution. As the Christian movement faces extinction and believers endure persecution for their faith, he is forced to ask questions about the true nature of God’s power and how we can be victors when it seems we have lost in every possible way. His own suffering and failure cause him to wrestle with how the faith can endure when he and his fellow followers are so broken. The book challenges many of our notions of success, especially those that grow from our experiences within a historically Christian culture.

It brings many questions from Christian history to bear on our current situation: what happens when our faith is no longer the majority viewpoint, and our movement seems to be vanishing? What will it cost us to remain true to our faith? Can Jesus really bear rejection? Where is God when his people suffer? Why does he seem silent when we need him most?

10. City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell: the challenges of missions work.

Based partly on the author’s grandparents’ work as Mennonite missionaries in China in the early 20th Century, City of Tranquil Light demonstrates Caldwell’s personal knowledge of and sensitivity to the challenges of missions work.

I read City of Tranquil Light while dealing with the stress of new responsibilities in my ministry and was encouraged by these words: “He does not ask me to be perfect, or even good. He simply asks me to be His.”

Though I’ve recommended this book to several missionaries as a friend for the journey, it will encourage anyone who has made sacrifices to serve God. When we do make sacrifices for the sake of ministry, will we feel forsaken? Will the sacrifices only be worthwhile if our life and work are hugely successful? Or will the sacrifices force us into a deeper reliance on him? How does it look to allow God to work not only in and through us but also in spite of us?

Mandy Smith is lead pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her book The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry (IVP) will be released in the Fall.