Finding Hope is a Christian novel written by a young lady that lives in my town where my husband and I serve in ministry. I picked up her debut novel with excitement to support her and see her using her talents to glorify God. While I believe the author is talented and is following the Lord, there are a lot of elements that I struggled with within this book. I have wrestled with wanting to share an honest review because I believe these issues need to be discussed. This is mainly because this book had been marketed as a Christian book and knowing that the author’s age will grab a younger audience.
1. The clear theme and encouragement of missionary dating. This concept is where a believer starts to fall for a nonbeliever, and the believers through prayer, encouragement, support etc. hopes that the nonbeliever can come to know the Lord so that then they can be together. That is the story of Hope and Ethan. Surprisingly, repeatedly in the book Hope says she knows Ethan is not saved, she knows she needs a strong Christian man, and she clearly knows she should not be romantically involved but yet she continues to be involved with him. After Ethan kisses her she shared that she could not be involved romantically but then goes against her word and continues to be romantically involved without Ethan confessing a faith. Just because something isn’t labeled as a relationship doesn’t mean it’s not. The two are physical involved without kissing (I.e Ethan kissing her head, Hope laying her head on Ethan’s lap). This really bothered me because the book opened by quoting from Song of Songs to not awaken love until it’s time and portrays Hope as a strong, missional, Christian woman who desires a Christian man. But then Hope does the complete opposite of this verse by romantically engaging with a man who the author states is not a Christian. After Ethan confesses faith, it’s like everything is now right in Hope’s world. The “He is a Christian” box has been checked. That same day their activity is now labeled “a date” yet it’s not any different than what they had been doing together. While I don’t doubt Ethan’s “conversion” it just solidified the missionary dating. That same day she begins vocalizing her desire for kids and imagining them running around his house and Hope tells him she wants to spend forever with him. He just “became a Christian” that morning and suddenly she’s ready to marry him. While they are on the same page now, he still isn’t the strong Christian man she has stated she needs. By the end of the book, just a few weeks later they are practically engaged and talking about getting married as soon as possible. I believe this is an dangerous message to send to any Christian, especially rushing into a marriage. This is probably what bothered me the most about this book and was very hard to see past and enjoy their story.
2. Ethan’s spiritual state. I could have been more supportive of the idea of Hope and Ethan’s relationship if the author had taken the theological perspective that he had fallen away from his faith or was struggling in his relationship with God. Ethan had a strong Christian upbringing but following the sudden death of his mother and step-father, he walks away from God. The author takes this to the point that he wasn’t saved and has no relationship with God. While this is a fictional work, I would fall more in the theological camp that Ethan has just gone through a hard season of grief and his worldview did not know how to handle that level of tragedy at his age. Walking through a tragedy will impact everyone and causes overarching questions and doubts, regardless of their beliefs. I wish the author had taken this a different route and not said he wasn’t saved. This simple shift makes his story more relatable to those who have struggled in their faith but also would have removed the whole issue of missionary dating.
3. The approach of Ethan’s struggle- I felt like the view of sin in this book was more focused on cognitive therapy than personal responsibility. The focus is more on what experiences have caused you to sin and that Ethan needs to try harder not to let those triggering moments keep him from drinking. We are definitely influenced by our experiences and exploring that can be a helpful counseling technique, but we also have to understand that we can’t blame our own actions on what has happened. There is still a sin nature that exists in everyone regardless of their experiences. There is a lot of encouragement for Ethan to stop drinking and get his life right before he is even thinking about salvation. I understand that it a key component to some people’s process of coming to God, but it has the subtle message that you have to clean up your life before you come to God. This puts all the pressure on the individual to change themselves which is contrary to the gospel message. I don’t think this is the author’s intent but it still came across that way. The gospel is all about humans being completely unworthy, sinful, and that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves right with God. Jesus is the only savior and through him now we are able to come to God and allow him to transform us through his Holy Spirit. Also, as soon as Ethan is saved all his problems suddenly are gone. There is no longer any mention of struggling with temptation or his family background. He is suddenly able to not drink and forgive his dad. While this may be the case for some immediately after a conversion experience, it’s isn’t the norm and is why so many walk away. God doesn’t promise your problems suddenly go away but instead promises you his presence and power to live a life that glorifies him (1 Corinthians 10:12-14, Galatians 5:16-26, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Philippians 2:13)
4. Settings for dates-I also struggled with some of the settings around their dates where they were alone in each other’s homes late at night, often clearly tired or sick. Even after they are “officially dating” they are still in settings alone in his house and scenes are described where they are very flirty and Hope is on his lap. Those settings can be incredibly tempting for some and could cause stumbling blocks for readers. Statistically, 1/3 women struggle with sexual addictions (erotica, porn, masturbation, etc.) and that statistic is the same within the church setting. Personally, had I read this in my season of singleness and dating, it would have tempted me to justify situations I couldn’t handle if I wanted to be obedient to God’s word to keep sexual relations in the confines of marriage. This is a matter of looking out for the weaker brother (Romans 14:13–23).
For a debut novel, I believe the author has shown her talent and ability to write a compelling story. I believe she has a lot of potential and I am excited to see how she develops and is strengthened in her writing and faith.