A Ministry of Humiliation

Several months ago, I had the privilege of hearing one of my favorite authors speak at a downtown bookstore. Chuck Palahniuk was promoting his novel, “Snuff” (marvelous, by the way) and in the course of the evening, the conversation meandered to his infamous short story, “Guts.”

“Guts,” which appears in his novel, “Haunted” (also marvelous), is so disturbing that people have been known to pass out when it’s read aloud. It features three true stories of masturbation mishaps and at one particular line in the story, several listeners have lost consciousness.

The amazing thing, according to Chuck Palahniuk, is what happens after the reading is over. Get up and read a story that so completely humiliates the reader, and no topic, no secret sin, no buried wound is considered taboo. “Guts,” becomes Chuck’s unspoken invitation for people to share that part of their soul too shameful to voice. And they come. Women emboldened to share how they got trapped in the industry of pornography. Men, sharing their most embarrassing moments. All because an author had the guts (no pun intended) to write a story about the dangers of jerking off.

As a Christian author, I take this as a personal challenge. What if, by writing a story of deeply personal embarrassment, I could help another person find the courage to confront their own issues? What if every Christian author on the planet stopped writing safe, outward-preachy fiction, and started giving voice to their own fears, insecurities, shortcomings, addictions…? Would it help people along the path to finding personal freedom in their true identity—their identity in Christ? Is our closely-guarded, polished image actually keeping people in their own private little prisons because no one in the church culture wants to talk about their shit?

God has a way of turning that sort of thing into fertilizer, but not when His people refuse to lay it on the altar.

Sometime in the near future I hope to write a novel entitled “Burlesque” and have it deal with the theme of sexual abuse. I hope I have the courage to write the lines that embarrass me. I hope I’ll have the courage to offend, to shock, to liberate. I hope to have the courage to write it the way Chuck would.

If nothing else, it would be fun to cause a few porcelain, uppity, religious types to pass out.