The Truth About 'Deception'

CBN.com When Randy Alcorn set out to tackle his latest novel, Deception, he knew it might receive a few frowns from some of his conservative Christian audience, but that didn’t deter him. Writing his novel from the first-person viewpoint of an unbeliever, he courageously addresses questions from the gut that your unbelieving skeptical friends and cynical relatives are probably wrestling with. And the payoff is that, after reading the book, there’s a good chance they’ll be at least a little more open to thinking about God and considering eternity.

“In Deception, we’re inside Ollie Chandler’s head. On the outside he appears simple, but we find him to be quite complex. He’s searching for things that are eternal and seeking God without even knowing it.

Ollie raises a lot of questions that unbelievers are wrestling with—reasonable questions about things such as suffering and injustice. “Instead of giving pat answers or ignoring those questions, we need to go ahead and ask them, and let the burden of the answers fall on our God. He’s more than big enough to carry their weight!”

The very fact that we have the ability to question is, Randy believes, because we are made in God’s image. “From God’s very hand is a gift to you…to choose, to think, to question, and to deny. He also put within us a built-in sense of justice. Why else do we object to suffering, or to powerful people exploiting the weak? It’s true that our sense of justice can be twisted as a result of the fall, but our very thirst for justice is from God. When we question Him about injustice, we’re actually appealing to a standard of justice that God himself has put within us.”

Just like all of us, Randy has sometimes struggled with the deeper questions. But he notes that many of these very same questions are raised in God’s word: Why are the heavens silent, why are the unrighteous thriving, why are the righteous suffering?

“I’m comforted by the fact that nobody is raising problems or questions that God hasn’t thought of. His inspired word raises them continuously. But we are always reminded that we don’t have the whole picture and our human understanding is finite. Look at the last five chapters of Job where God responds to Job’s questioning with something like, ‘Hey, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Surely you must know, for you have lived so many years.’ God is God and He’s often beyond explanation or understanding, and we don’t have to figure it all out. Personally, I’ve come to a peace and trust about God’s purposes, knowing I don’t have to resolve all these problems in order to believe. Whether you believe in God or not, you’re going to have unanswered questions. Why not leave the burden on the only One with answers?”

The takeaway for the unbelieving audience is the most important aspect of the novel. Randy wants heaven and hell to become to the reader exactly what they are: real. And he wants his readers to recognize the difference between the lies and the truth battling for their hearts and minds.

“The deception is what’s taking place on earth. Ollie realizes that things are not always as they appear. That of course is not only true in this murder mystery; it’s true in life itself. We can only see a part of the picture but we can’t make a judgment about things only by the way they look. As the book shows, there’s the other side too—the unseen realm is portrayed where there is more clarity of thought and perspective. I want the reader to take heaven and hell seriously.”

Is Deception characteristic of “hit-em-over-the-head” evangelism? No. But it also doesn’t apologize for the Christian worldview built into the story line. Ollie’s hard spiritual questions are cleverly and fearlessly addressed by believing characters in the book, and the unseen spiritual realm is brought to life, giving the reader a glimpse of the eternal. But this is done with credibility and care.

“I’d like to gain trust from my readers through the fact that Ollie doesn’t have to experience conversion for the story to work. I hope readers are making progress in that direction, becoming more open to the fact that maybe there is a God after all, and being challenged with the thinking that there’s more to life than what they see. I also want them to come away with a sense of hope that it’s possible to rise above the hard things of life and that something better awaits them if they follow Christ.”

When asked if an unbelieving reader should be warned about Christian content before reading, Randy has mixed feelings. “That depends on who the person is. If they’re already defensive about Christianity, then I would say a warning is appropriate. You could say something like, “The author is a Christian; however, the lead character isn’t, so the author really gives voice to a non-Christian way of thinking.

“Of course, for some of my Christian audience, Ollie’s unbelieving viewpoint will be an argument against the book. I know I’m going to get ‘the letters.’ One criticism will be that the book shows Ollie drinking a lot of alcohol. But hey, I don’t have my believing characters drink too much. I’m showing the emptiness and pain that results in Ollie’s drinking, and the negative impact it has on his life and relationships. Scripture contains drunkenness, adultery, even incest…but it shows them for what they really are.”

The book’s Christian message is woven into the compelling murder-mystery plot. Historically, Randy’s strength is in reaching readers where they’re at, and walking through the questions of life with them. “My goal in writing any novel is to tell an engaging story that draws in readers, entertains them, and makes them think. I want the characters to be real to the readers, and for them to be lost in the story. Hopefully, they’ll walk away from Deception surprised, amused, and touched at a deep level.”

With over three million in print, Randy’s nonfiction works include Money, Possessions and Eternity, The Treasure Principle,and Heaven. His novels include Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, Edge of Eternity and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home.

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Julie is the author of The Perfect Fit: Waiting for God’s Best after Failed Relationships and has written articles for other publications such as Marriage Partnership, Brio & Beyond, HomeLife, Discipleship Journal, and Revolve III Biblezine Project for teen girls (Thomas Nelson). To order the book or to find out more go to: www.JulieFerwerda.com.