On Reading Widely: Are You Stuck on One Shelf?

By M. R. Conrad | April 12, 2023

How widely do you read? Do you get these references from literature?

  1. “In the late 1920s, Gladys Aylward worked as a British parlor maid but had dreams of becoming an actress. At that time, many working class women would serve the wealthy, as depicted in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mysteries.”
  2. “As a well-off aristocrat, Lilias Trotter could support herself whether in England or in Algeria. It was as though one of the characters from a P. G. Wodehouse novel like Jeeves and Wooster had stepped out of their world of wealth and into a life of surrender and service to God.”
  3. “Trotter did not dream of six impossible things before breakfast—she did them in the Lord’s strength.”
  4. “’Please, sir, I want some more,’ said the hungry Oliver Twist, a fictional orphan of the early 1800s. Consigned to workhouses, poor and orphaned children labored long hours in filthy, industrial buildings. The same deplorable conditions that inspired author Charles Dickens to publish the novel Oliver Twist in 1837 moved George Muller to open an orphanage two years before.”

These quotes come from early drafts of my missions devotionals. I thought these literary references would provide color and quickly help the reader to imagine the setting of the missionary snapshot. However, all of these excerpts but the last one got cut by editors because they did not understand the reference or they feared the readers would not. Beta readers also flagged some of these in confusion. So, I agreed to eliminate most of these literary references. But it got me thinking—shouldn’t Christians be reading more widely?

Start with God’s Word

Yes, we should read the Bible—daily. God’s Word should be the starting point for beliefs and practice for every believer. The Scriptures should form our worldview and provide a matrix through which to evaluate all literature and media we consume.

Supplement with Solid, Christian Works

To aid our understanding of Scripture and growth in Christ, we should branch out into the following types of Christian literature:

Expand into the Classics

In addition, become familiar with the plots of William Shakespeare’s plays. Know the characters from Charles Dickens’ novels. Read the novels of influential authors like Lewis Carroll (the literary reference in the third quote above is from Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland), Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Acquaint yourself with these stories that have influenced Western culture. You might even find it enjoyable.

Observe Human Nature and History through Biographies

Expand beyond Christian biography and catch a glimpse of how people of the past have thought, believed, and lived. For example, I read an excellent biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson which gave me a window into my parents’ generation that I would not have gained without it. If you’re not sure where to start in reading biographies, choose one of David McCullough’s works. His biographies of Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt are especially engaging and informative.

Learn New Skills with “How to” Books

I know the internet, especially YouTube, has become an excellent tool for practical “how to” instruction, but books still have a role in this field. When I began dabbling in writing, I found helpful authors whose practical suggestions from their experiences improved my writing skills. Memoirs and manuals about birding, travel, and hobbies have enriched my understanding of the world around me.

Explore Contemporary Issues from Various Perspectives

Often our perspective of cultural trends is shaped by the media or distorted in “echo chambers”. We learn about the world around us from incomplete sound bites. The movements and philosophies that drive the movements remain nebulous in our minds. Worse yet, we can find ourselves supporting and even promoting ideas that directly contradict the Word of God and a Biblical worldview. Therefore, as thinking believers, we need to read about current trends from both a Christian point of view and from the original sources of these ideas. In the last few years, I have read Carl Truman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines. In addition, I have dived into the works of authors with opposing views and evaluated trending ideas from their original sources (or their modern promoters).

Read What Your Children Are Reading

Encourage your children to read by reading what they are reading—both for fun and for school. Discuss the Chronicles of Narnia with them. Laugh with them about how often the Hardy Boys get knocked out by the bad guys. Preview newer novels before they read them or read them aloud together. Stories by recent children’s authors like S. D. Smith (The Green Ember), Andrew Peterson (The Wingfeather Saga), and N. D. Wilson (100 Cupboards) are worth exploring together. Your reading can connect you with your children—and help steer them away from unhealthy influences—as you raise them for the Lord.

Read More, Read Widely

Expand your knowledge base. Root your thinking in the Word of God first, but be informed about the world around you. Resist being spoon fed by others. Do your own reading and research to form your own opinions. Read from original sources. Know your history. Learn to detect when events and people of the past are distorted in modern-day narratives. Be aware of the stories that have shaped our language and cultural frame of reference. Maybe you will not get every literary reference in each book you read, but you will have a wider understanding of the world in which God placed you and be able to speak more effectively to the issues of our day.

Dr. Conrad serves in urban Asia. He is the author of missionary devotionals Daring Devotion and Daring Dependence. He blogs at Rooted Thinking, we republish his material by permission.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

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