Faith'n'Fiction Saturday: What's the Purpose of Christian Fiction?

Faith'n'Fiction Saturday is a weekly discussion about the intersection of faith and fiction. You are welcome to participate by leaving a comment or writing a post on your blog and leaving your link in the Mister Linky.

First an announcement:
I mentioned back in January that I would be starting Faith'n'Fiction round tables. Each month, I'm gathering a group of bloggers together to discuss a book. We will post our discussion on the last Saturday of the month. We would love to have you read the book and post your thoughts on the book as well. Here's the schedule:
February--Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney
March--In the Garden of the North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff
April--Offworld by Robin Parrish
May--Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
June--Broken by Travis Thrasher

(If you are interested in joining in a future round table please let me know by emailing mypalamyATgmailDOTcom I have a few spots left for April, May, and June and I haven't started booking July and beyond yet.)

Today, I'm asking you...what's the purpose of Christian fiction?

For me, the purpose of Christian fiction is to see in story the practical living out of faith. That's what I look for in the best Christian fiction novels. While it's nice not to have to worry about profanity or explicit sex, the books that end up meaning the most to me are the books that dig deeply into the complexity of faith through the art of fiction. These end up being books I love more than any other books. Because the Christian fiction market is so small, I think I only find a few each year that really meet this need for me. But I think that we all have a different idea of what the purpose of Christian fiction is, so ....

YOUR TURN