Fostering Discernment As We Read
As a child I read vigorously and hopefully. The library was my second home, and I looked forward to reading the endless shelves of books beyond the children’s section. But when I moved into the Young Adult area, many of the first few pages of each book were filled with silliness or extreme violence or raunchy content. I was horrified and my innocent dreams of reading every book in the library were crushed.
Similarly in college, I had another rude awakening, but this time with Christian books I had assumed were good because of their Christian label. Unfortunately, there are a lot of books published under the broad category of “Christian” that make me ashamed (think Joel Osteen and Your Best Life Now or Rachel Hollis and Girl, Wash Your Face). There are many Christian books out there, but how can we know which ones are biblical and good and which ones are not worth our time? As believers, God calls us to dwell on
“…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things'' -Philippians 4:8 ESV
But what does that look like in our everyday reading lives? How can we choose good books? Here are some basic principles we can follow through each stage of reading— before we pick up a book, while we read, and even after the book is finished.
Before We Read
Read the Bible
The best way to know if books are biblical or not is to be consistently reading God’s Word. If we fill our hearts and our minds on His truth daily, we are more likely able to discern whether a book agrees or contradicts with God’s teachings. We read in the book of Proverbs that,
“…the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity” -Proverbs 2:6-7 ESV.
The Bible is God’s Word given to us for instruction. The more we read about how God has called us to live, the more we meditate on Christ’s character and godliness, and the more we will naturally be able to discern what books will help us become more like Christ and which ones will not.
Pray
Sometimes we can forget to pray about the simple things, too. God cares about the books that we read and delights when we come to Him in prayer over both the small and big. Ask the Lord to guide you, to give you discernment as you read, to show you from His Word the books that uphold His gospel and the books that do not.
Go to Church
If you are regularly sitting under good and gospel centered preaching and mingling with other believers, you will naturally grow in your understanding of the Bible and what is good and true and biblical. You can benefit from the church’s library as well as see what others in your church are reading. Why not start with a list of recommended books from your pastor?
Pre-Screen Your Books
Find trusted sources. If a book looks good but it is from an unfamiliar author or publisher, start looking for book reviews from trusted sources. I have a couple of websites or blogs I follow on social media who I know won’t be promoting heretical books. For example, Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, and Tim Challies (writing on his blog challies.com) are some of my favorite trusted sources where book reviews can be found. This doesn’t mean I hold their opinions higher than the Bible or that I always agree with every one of their articles (I don’t). But it is helpful to have their websites as resources for book reviews from a Christian worldview.
Dig deeper.
Pull out your phone in the bookstore and see what other books this author has written. Sometimes their current book may look amazing, but an older published work may reveal subject matter that is potentially unbiblical, making us further scrutinize the new book.
Notice who is promoting the book. I live in Vermont where the culture is beyond secular. It is rare for any bookstore in my state to carry a book of Christian substance, so if my local bookstore is promoting a Christian book, I am already skeptical.
You can also read the book endorsements from other authors. The type of authors promoting the book will give you clues to what kind of book it is.
As We Read
Read with a Critical Eye
This doesn’t mean to read judgmentally or to only look for the bad in the books we read. But it does mean to read with our eyes open, to look for the deeper meanings, the hidden agendas, or any ideas that seem to go against God’s Word. We must be on the lookout. As you read ask yourself questions like the following:
“From what perspective is the author writing from?”
“How does this line up with what the Bible says?”
“Are these words biblically true, true in part, or just wrong?”
“Are the authors trying to change my opinion on a topic? Are they right or wrong?”
“What are the underlying themes in the story?”
“How is God and His Word portrayed here?”
Pay Attention to Your Thoughts
What are you thinking about as you read a certain book? Are your thoughts good, full of curiosity and wonder? Or are your thoughts sinful? Does reading a book make you discontent about your life? Does a book make you fearful? In college I had to stop reading romance novels since they left me feeling empty and unhappy about the lack of romance in my life. Sometimes I stop reading a book because the violence is too much for me to handle. This is okay. Be aware of who you are as a person and be aware of your good or evil thought patterns that have stemmed from books.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Once we had a guest speaker in my New Testament class during college. He was the chair for the Bible Division, and his words were engaging and a nice change from our normal lectures. Yet as he kept talking, his words made me uneasy. They seemed wrong and maybe unbiblical, but I couldn’t figure out why. The more I thought about it even after class, the more uneasy I felt. The next time I called home I told my dad everything I could remember about the guest speaker’s presentation and how it seemed “off” to me. After my dad did some research of his own, he told me that the guest speaker was wrong, and he was misinterpreting the Bible. Though I sensed something was wrong, it was my dad that was able to specifically tell me how and why the speaker’s words were unbiblical.
You don’t have to figure this stuff out on your own. If you read something that sounds wrong, off, or weird, don’t just skip it. Highlight the book, mark it with a sticky note, or take a picture on your phone and ask someone you trust what they think. Bring it up with your Bible study leader, ask your pastor, show your husband, or have your parents read the book, too.
Notice Patterns
Did you find a book that looked great, but turned out to be heretical? Remember the author and don’t buy their books again. Write down the publisher as a note to yourself that this publisher doesn’t always produce good books and their materials should be scrutinized more in the future.
While it is important to not judge a book by its cover in most circumstances, this has often saved me from reading crummy books. A cover featuring a woman clinging to a burly man’s bare chest is not usually a book I will even dignify to pick up. This book is clearly meant to titillate and produce certain feelings before the book is even opened. Sometimes it’s good to judge books by their covers.
After We Read
Check Your Attitude
I am a self-proclaimed book snob. I take pride in insisting that books be of the highest quality of everything good and beautiful. There are heretical, disgraceful, questionable, and problematic books out there that I fear many unaware Christians will stumble into and not be able to discern the ways they go against God’s Word, and we need to speak out about these books. But with those exceptions, despite the rants about mediocre books I subject my husband and mother to on many occasions, I need to lead in love, grace, and humility when it comes to interacting with fellow readers.
I have had friends whose reading choices concerned me on a theological level or because of the low quality of fiction they continually pursued. Yet I can’t be the book police. How many friendships would I ruin if I told people their reading choices were terrible, or they were filling their mind with bad theology? We need to be slow to judge, giving others the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes people read books to judge for themselves if it is good or not. We can’t know their opinion of a book until we ask.
Engage and Discuss
If you find yourself constantly calling out your friends and family on the books they are reading, try to engage in literary discussion instead. Ask, “Hey, how is that book so far?” Sometimes they will voice the same concerns I had. If they don’t, I might bring it up myself in conversation by saying, “She is an amazing writer, but I didn’t like it when she said this,” or, “I thought that might be a wrong interpretation of the passage.”
Focus on the Good
Lastly, make a point to promote the amazing and wonderful books you have read more often than you tear down the silly, ridiculous, or unbiblical books you discover. Not only does this create a more positive and loving atmosphere, but I have found it to be more effective as I give book recommendations.
Even as adults we can still recapture the same innocence and hope we had in books as children. Knowing both the lovely in literature and the horrible, we can dwell on what is lovely and true. We can, with God’s help, discern what He would have us read, and we can be hopeful that in Christ we will be reunited with Him in heaven someday where all will be made right— even terrible books written in His name.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Allie Fullerton recently graduated from the Vermont College of Fine Arts with her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Her desire is to write good Christian fiction that changes, challenges, and entertains readers as well as shares the truth about the messy world we live in and the gospel that changes lives. Currently, Allie is working on a middle grade novel in verse. She lives with her husband Jared in Vermont where they enjoy reading and hiking together.