Matt W Cook

I don’t read much Christian fiction. Let’s face it, unless you read nothing else, you have to admit there is a severe gap between the quality of normal fiction and Christian fiction. Why? That’s another post.

But even though I don’t read much, I try to read a bit. A good friend suggested Ted Dekker’s Black, Red and White series. As far as Christian books go, it’s not bad.

It’s a shame I have to clarify like that but, what can you do?

Half of the series is an analogy in a fantasy setting.  Most analogies come across as cheesy and forced, but Dekker’s is not bad.  The one thing that really resonated with me what the analogy concerning how to follow Jesus.

Justin, the Jesus figure, dies by drowning in the book.  To follow him, he says that you need to go into the lake where he drowned, and pull in a big lungful of water.  The reader assumes, as the first convert enters the water, that he’ll find the water nice and refreshing and he’ll be able to breath it fine.

The reader is wrong.

When the protagonist takes in his lungful of air, it destroys him.  Pain explodes in his chest and he loses all buoyancy.  He sinks down into the dark, red lake.  He drowns.  He dies.  Game over.

Of course, he lives again.  But he actually died first.  Ouch!

This resonates because of the very high importance it places on following Jesus.  Following Jesus is not a prayer or an idea or a habit.  It’s a death and a rebirth.  It’s a game over followed by a restart.  It’s like getting hit with a Mack truck.  And no one is ever the same after encountering a Mack truck.

So thanks, Mr. Dekker, for the very nice salvation analogy.  I liked it.

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