PG-13 Material in Christian Art

"We write down made up stories to tell the truths we wish we could say out loud," - Linda Schreyer

We've all read The Hunger Games, we've all seen The Breakfast Club. We all know that violence, sex, language and other adult material is rampant in secular media, and, for the most part, we've come to accept it.

But what about adult material in Christian art? Everyone's heard about the ridiculously idealistic Christian movies with terrible scores, everyone has seen the Amish-clad and excessively boring Christian fiction section. For the most part, Christian art is squeaky clean, because, in order for it to succeed, people believe it needs to appeal to that homeschooling mom who gasps in horror at four letter words and won't let her kids watch anything secular. 

There's plenty of Christian media that caters to those kinds of people. 

But what about the rest of us?  Do we have to suffer through cheesy movies, only watching them because they're Christian?  Do we have to read idealistic fiction because it's the only 'pure' thing out there?

Absolutely not. 

But first, the term "Christian art" needs to be defined. In simplest terms, it can be art created by a person who is a Christian, but this can branch off into many different subcategories. 

1. Art that has no Christian themes or motives, but is just creative expression for the sake of sending another message or just art because art is awesome. 

2. Art created specifically for Christians to consume. This art is the most prevalent, and is the squeaky-cleanest. This is meant to uplift and enforce the reader's already Christian beliefs. 

3. Art created to speak to people - to teach them, to comfort them, to uplift them. Whether those people be other Christians - who, remember, are just as broken as the rest of us - or secular people who need to see a message of love in a visual, auditory, or written way. The third definition is usually the most racy. 

Examples of the third definition:

King's Kaleidoscope: A Prayer

Hot by Laura L. Smith 

And this third definition is what I've always found most appealing, especially as I've matured. 

As I grew older, the squeaky clean, cookie cutter and idealistic 'Christian art' wasn't doing it for me anymore. For a while, I searched for Christian books, bands, movies, but came up mostly empty handed. I couldn't find the substance and relatability along with good execution, so I turned to secular art, and, on some level, was able to find all of the above things. 

But still, I was missing something. And the lacking I found in both Christian art and secular art (especially books in my case), inspired me to write two novels which reflected what I knew that Christian art was lacking:

Violence, Sex, Language, Drugs, and Adult Themes

Not that these things are good, but that they are real. The hard things in life are what has made God send his Son to die for our sins, for us. And erasing these things from Christian media only perpetuates the myth that Christians are perfect, or, that once you become a Christian, you will be perfect. 

Including the hard things, the bad things, the dirty things, in your art adds the reality, the relatability, and makes the story of redemption and the saving grace of God even more impactful. 

So hey, by all means, throw some blood at your readers, swear a little, let it all hang out. 

But make sure it's got a good reason. 

~The WordShaker