If you want to be a better Christian Ambassador, then you need to read more fiction.

But what about the latest book on scientific discoveries? Or the latest archaeological finds in the Middle East? Or how to have conversations about modern sexual ethics?

Sure. But you still need to read more fiction, too. And here’s why.

There has never been a better time to be a learner. There has been an explosion in apologetic and theological books and videos in the past 2 decades. If there is an argument for Christianity you want to pursue, or a modern social issue you want to know how to address, chances are there’s a book for that. Lots of books, probably.

But there’s a problem if all you read is nonfiction. And it started happening to me.

I have always loved to read. Long before kids had their noses buried in their phones on a car ride, I had my nose buried in a book on a car ride. Or while Mom was grocery shopping.

I read fiction exclusively up until I got hooked on apologetics almost a decade ago. At that moment, I realized I had a lot of catching up to do, so I hit the books to learn about my favorite topics. I flipped from all fiction and no non-fiction to almost all non-fiction and barely any fiction.

I learned a ton! There was a side effect to all of this academic learning, though. With so much time spent focused on facts, philosophy, ethics, and arguments, I forgot one important part of the picture.

I’m dealing with people, not chess programs. Apologists deal primarily with arguments; things that fall in the logical realm. But our audience isn’t logic machines, it’s people.

People are messy, complicated life forms that possess the ability to reason and think logically. But we all have emotional baggage, history, and fears that often cloud our judgment. Including me.

What was missing from my education was people.

Sure, I could have added more nonfiction on psychology and the behavioral sciences, but that’s just more data. What I needed was to be able to observe human interactions, get inside the heads of people, and learn to figure out where they are coming from.

What I needed was help with what psychologists call the theory of mind. This is our ability to attribute mental things to other people; things like what someone is thinking, what they are feeling, and what they believe. These are things that we attempt to determine by a variety of clues surrounding the person we are dealing with, only part of which may be the actual words they are speaking.

The “theory” in theory of mind is not a theory *that* a mind exists; its about us trying to theorize what other people are thinking. We have to develop theories on what other people are thinking because it’s impossible to know exactly what they are thinking – even if they tell us.

Some examples of when we use theory of mind include

• dealing with a salesperson. When you talk to someone about buying something, you have to determine their motives and how truthful they are before you make the purchase.
• gauging the feelings of others while you interact with them. When we interact with others, we want to do so with gentleness and respect. Making the other person mad makes them defensive and shuts down the conversation.
• using the best arguments to make our case, given the person we are engaging with. If we start getting into scientific evidence for our position, and the person’s eyes glaze over, we’re not using an effective argument, and need to switch tactics.
• comforting others. Trying to understand where someone is coming from so we know the best way to help them through tough times.

Here’s where reading more fiction comes in. Reading fiction helps us fill in some of the gaps we are missing in our studies. And, as you’ll see, it can help us put our social skills into practice without risk of putting our foot in our mouth.

Reading Fiction Increases Empathy

One major thing that happens as we read fiction is that we put ourselves in the roles of the characters as they engage with the world around them and each other. During conversations, we think of the words we would have said. During moments of action, we think that we wouldn’t have opened that door or turned down that dirt road. We put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

In his book Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction, cognitive psychologist Dr. Keith Oatley argues that fiction allows us to experience a number of social situations as we read and put ourselves in the places of the participants. He points out that fiction is about “selves in a social world,” and primarily shows “what people are up to with each other.”

Research has shown that as we read fiction, we often put ourselves in the place of the characters of the story. We often think things like “here’s what I would have said or done” or “Johnny should have done X instead of Y.”

Putting yourself in someone else’s position improves your ability to empathize with others. This is a skill just as important to Christian ambassadors as being able to make an airtight argument.

Empathy is our ability to think, “Oh, man. I see why you did that. I may not have done the same thing, but I get it.” One thing that Christians should be known for is our empathy towards others. Jesus routinely demonstrated this when he ate with the tax-gatherers, prostitutes, and sinners.

Empathy doesn’t mean approval. It doesn’t mean we have to be OK with a particular lifestyle. Jesus wasn’t OK with the activities of these people. But what it does mean is we have to be willing to walk out to someone, hold out our hand, and help them hobble into the hospital to get care, rather than shout at them from the doorway that they better hurry up and figure out how to get in on their own.

Reading Fiction Develops Theory Of Mind

This idea is backed up by the fact that the same parts of our brain that handle theory of mind are highly active as we read fiction. The same parts of my brain that I employ when trying to figure out what someone really means by the question they are asking are the same parts that light up when I’m trying to determine the motives of a character in a story.

When I am engaging with someone in real life, I need to use clues like tone, the words being said, and past encounters to quickly develop the best way to respond to the person in front of me. I like to use humor and sarcasm to try to deflate tense situations. Sometimes, though, humor is not appropriate. And it may make the situation worse. I need to be able to read the situation properly to achieve the desired outcome.

Because fiction engages the same parts of our brain that real-life encounters do, this allows me to think through social engagements at my own pace and with no risk of offending anyone. When I read a mystery, I am trying to analyze the characters to see who the guilty party is.

I recently finished the book She, by H. Rider Haggard (think Indiana Jones written in 1897). The main character, Holly, encounters various natives in the jungles of Africa. Some of them want to help him. Some of them want to eat him. And, I’m trying to figure it out right along with him!

Now, hopefully, I won’t ever have to determine if someone I’m talking to about Christianity wants to make me into a Daveburger. But it is a great mental exercise in reading situations without having to be in them for real. I most definitely have to use context clues to evaluate the best way to engage with someone on various topics. Reading fiction helps with that.

Reading Fiction Teaches Us About Human Nature

Good stories have characters that are multidimensional. The protagonist is never perfect. They usually have flaws and shortcomings. In fact, what makes a great protagonist is seeing them grow and overcome challenges throughout the story.

The antagonist – the person we are supposed to root against – often has qualities we may admire. Maybe he started out as a good kid, but a series of events and relationships sent him down this dark path.

Good characters are just like people in real life – messy and complex. Maybe we understand the bad guy’s motives, but we still think he needs to be stopped. Maybe we agree that the good guy is in the right about something, even if he made some bad choices along the way.

Real people are the same way. We can’t know who people really are based on what we see of them on social media, what we hear others say about them, or what comes out in news reports. Real people are more complex than their social media profiles. And we shouldn’t cast judgment based on their public persona. We should assume there is more behind the curtain and try to put ourselves in their shoes to better understand them.

Reading Fiction Is Fun!

Let’s not forget why most people read fiction. Because it’s fun! You can visit exotic destinations on a space-faring pirate galleon, you can solve a murder mystery in the heart of the Big City, or you can be a prosecuting attorney seeking justice for the overworked pill bug ranchers of Eastern Outbackistan.

There’s nothing wrong with reading fiction solely for the fun of it. Stimulating your imagination is a good thing. Reading engages your imagination on a much deeper level than watching it on a screen.

Don’t Do This

When I read books by Bart Ehrman or Richard Dawkins, people with whom I am on opposite sides of many issues, I am doing it to understand the other side of the argument so that I can find holes in their reasoning and/or make my case stronger. Don’t do that with fiction. Don’t read a work of fiction just because you want to “know your enemy”.

Also, don’t pick a book to read solely because you want to be able to engage with the culture. I would never suggest you read Game of Thrones just so you can have conversations with Game of Thrones fans. If you want to see a nihilistic worldview in action (the belief that there is no good or evil and ultimately everything is meaningless), and you like fantasy, backstabbing, and political intrigue, then go for it. But don’t read it just so you can evangelize to the guy in the lunchroom at work.

Start Here!

My advice if you want to start reading fiction isn’t to start with someone else’s list of the Greatest Books Of All Time. Start with what interests you. Think of a movie you love. There’s a good chance it was based on a book. So read that. Get your feet wet.

When you’re ready to venture into unfamiliar territory, pick a genre you like, go to someplace like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, or LibraryThing, and check out the popular books in those genres.

And if you’re stuck, ask me! I’m happy to help you get started on what I think will be a lifelong pathway to pleasure and personal growth.