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MyClipboardIsMyViolin replied to the topic Shipping Baby Christians in the forum Characters 7 years, 7 months ago
@anne-of-lothlorien Yes, but in a story not everything has to be “perfect”. Characters make mistakes in stories and they fall short of our wisdom and expectations. The point is to be realistic and honest about what such relationships usually entail. If you’re shipping (marrying) two baby Christians, be honest about the tensions and struggles of that relationship. For example, when they first get started in their marriage, they will likely relate to each other like a pair of unbelievers in their marriage. They will have a lot of idols to sort through. Their relationship may even be toxic where one partner demands something of the other that the other person won’t give, and they may have to sort through the consequences.
The same is true of a mature Christian marrying a less mature Christian as well – the more mature Christian will likely be unsatisfied in their marriage and try to “fix” the less mature person, to the less mature person’s resentment. Quarrels will result. Another problem may be that the less mature partner lashes out at the mature one for being too legalistic. Etc. The less mature partner may drag the mature one into sin!
The problem becomes when you don’t portray these relationships realistically, which is tempting (especially for the romantic ones, those chemicals are little liars) and do the “two baby Christians got married and everything is great and everyone lives happily ever after!” bit. Nobody lives happily ever after in a marriage, even one between two mature Christians, for one thing. For another, these relationships tend to have the problems described above, and they will come up – the sin nature is what it is.
However, if you portray the romantic faults of the relationship realistically, it will serve as a cautionary tale against such ill-advised marriages, and your story will be God-honoring, for you may save some poor soul some pain and trouble.
As for theological teaching on marriage, the gold standard is here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+7&version=NASB Please note the actual statement of the passage that it is actually better for two baby Christians to marry (and brave the relationship fires above!) than it is for them to descend into sexual immorality! That’s the biblical wisdom on the subject – if they can wait and grow up in Christ before taking the plunge, they should. If they can’t, though, it’s okay, and God will honor their choice to evade immorality and control themselves.
Here’s a rule of thumb that I use for writing my stories: if evil, be honest. Evil is okay to write as long as you’re honest about its effects – don’t lie to people and say that it’s good for you. Show the reader where the evil you’re contemplating really ends up.












