Double-Edged Sword

I've been sorting through a bit of varied reading lately. One book is a biography of former president Millard Fillmore from the American Presidents Series. Then there is Faceless Killers, the first in the Wallander series by Henning Mankell. And then, there's a brief volume I got in the mail last week: Sam Allberry's Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With?. And that book, in a more direct way, brought about this post.

Allberry tackles the question of sex and the Christian parameters of sexual activity in...hold on to your hats...somewhere in the neighborhood of 130-140 pages. That's all. You'd think that would leave a lot uncovered, and I suppose some people end the book with unanswered questions, but in truth, Allberry's work is meaty and concise. Economy of style and weightiness of insight can and do exist side by side. He is simple without being simplistic.

And to find out more, you'll have to read Sam Allberry's book for yourself. I'm really wanting to segue to my own writing experience.

When I pitched the idea of an ethics book to Christian Focus Publications, I didn't want them to see it as an exhaustive slaloming through the powdery snowdrifts of moral theology. I mean, there's a place for that, but it was beyond my desire. As Tough Issues, True Hope: A Concise Journey Through Christian Ethics took hold in my mind and took shape on my laptop, I wanted it to have a clear focus, conversational delivery, and--to really stand out--a concise approach. Yes, I believed so much in the latter idea that it became part of the subtitle.

I admit that was a conspiracy on my part. Each chapter is short. The smallest one (outside of the preface and epilogue) is six pages long and the longest is about 11-12 pages. The whole book comes to a mere 240 pages. That in and of itself could be risky. Some readers might be expecting a mine of detail and could be disappointed. I even say in the preface that such folks "could wonder why I don't turn over every rock for discussion." But in truth, I never see myself or my ideas as the final word on any moral topic. So, I tell readers "I want to take you a certain distance and then trust you to do more consideration, more research, more though, more collaboration and discussion with others. Test what you read here and shake it out. I'm trying to get you started on that journey."

I really think that part of being a fiction writer helped here. I'm a believer in the mantra "Show, don't tell". Readers want their authors to show them the story and let them bring their own color and enjoyment to it. That's why I like to use dialogue and incidental events to build characters rather than tell people what they are like.

What this comes down to--this desire to be concise as I dabble in this attempt at nonfiction--is a matter of trust. I think this is what motivates Sam Allberry and others who publish concise yet robust volumes. We trust the reader to take the baton, to receive and chew on what we share, and then go further with questions and soul pursuit. Authors constantly fight against the temptation to say more than we need to; what can be refreshing is the humility to say we don't have to say everything. We can trust our readers to munch on the picnic we set before them and digest it in ways that will feed them in the most nourishing manner.