Fanfic Jesus
By Anthony Casperson
3-7-26

Across the internet, one can find numerous writings by fans about famous characters from various stories. These fanfictions allow those who enjoy a specific narrative world to interact with the characters in a new and unique manner. Often, this includes inserting new fan-made characters into the story.

Before I discuss any negative aspects to these endeavors, I need to say that imagining alternate scenarios for well-known characters and their worlds has some value. I can’t tell you how many nights throughout my life that I’ve fallen asleep to my own imagined bedtime stories that included superhero, fantasy, and sci-fi characters from someone else’s intellectual property.

Such an exercise also permits the creative juices to flow without needing to create characters or their entire world from nothing. Think of it like first steps that teach newly budding storytellers about the craft. Writing fanfic can be the toddler phase for those who will one day be authors of their own self-crafted worlds that they can officially publish—without fear of being sued for copyright infringement.

With that being said, there can be a dark side to these fanfic writings. Negative aspects that pit themselves against the original story. Sometimes, non-canonical readings gather such a following that the official characterization of the actual author’s creation is considered null and void. Fans argue for their own personal head canon just because they prefer it over the story as first written by the person who imagined the characters to begin with.

This willful disregard for what was originally written often revolves around romantic love interests of the characters. However, other changes can lead to the creation of a fanfiction, such as “fixing” an aspect of the original worldbuilding that no longer suits modern sensibilities. Some may even push on an aspect of a character that leaves them a caricature of what the original author intended—merely because it suits the fanfic author’s perspective on the person.

When these changes take on a life of their own like this, it often comes down to not preferring some aspect of the original, and seeking to change it in order to mesh more suitably with one’s own liking. It’s an amalgamation of personal preference and jigsawed pieces of the original, all with a disregard for the whole truth.

Now, it might sound like I’m being a little facetious about this “dark side” of fanfiction. After all, what difference does it make if a small group of people happen to like a story written by a fan who prefers for Hermione to have a relationship with Draco instead of Ron? (Yes, that exists. No, I’m not proud of the fact that I know it does.)

Well, if we left the frankensteining work of conjoining personal preference to truth chunks for only works of fiction, then there wouldn’t be that much of a problem. Imagine your own storylines for fictional characters all you want. However, human beings often carry over practices from one aspect of life to another.

And given this website’s connection to godly and spiritual things, I’m pretty sure you’ve figured out the direction that I’m going to go with this one. (The title probably helped too.)

The “dark side” of fanfic comes into dangerous territory when we carry over its use while talking about the story of biblical history. When we distort the truth to better fit our personal understandings of romance, modern sensibilities, and preferred readings, we create golden calves that may lead to worship, but it is certainly not worship of the God of the bible.

For instance, many quote the idea that “God is love,” but misrepresent the godly love shown in the bible. True, biblical love calls us out of the harmful acts of sin, rather than permissibly leaving us to pursue whatever makes us happy in the moment. It is shown in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus who reaches out to lead us toward greater godliness, not in the self-defined “bliss” that lets us stay in our deadly blindness.

Jesus himself speaks against willful blindness that follows its own preferred story rather than the truth of God. And he even teaches us how to tell the difference between truth and spiritual fanfic.

We find this teaching in John 9-10. And it begins with a misreading of God’s work among sinful people in the world.

Some disciples ask Jesus whether it was this blind man they were passing by who had sinned, or if it had been his parents? The thought they had was that negative things like physical blindness were as a direct result of sin. They believed that God had caused this guy to be blind on account of some sort of rebellion against him. And they wanted to know if it had been the blind man’s own sin or the sin of his parents.

To this, Jesus said it was neither. The blindness was so that the glory of God could be shown through it. God had allowed this negative thing for this man’s whole life so that this very moment could happen. So that Jesus could heal this man who’d been born blind.

The truth that God can use negative things in the world to bring about his glory and our good is greater than the fanfic that God is out to punish us with his wagging finger of shame.

But this is only the setup for the greater story. After this miraculous healing, the Pharisees can’t believe their own eyes. No one had ever been given sight if they’d been born blind. It is truly something supernatural. Yet, this once-blind man claims that it was Jesus who had cured him.

And this just couldn’t be. The Pharisees have a preferred understanding of God that does not permit this Jesus figure to be who he says he is. They prefer the fanfic that shows God to dearly love the Pharisees and their strict rule followings—despite the fact that quite a number of those rules explicitly deny aspects of God’s character that had clearly been written before.

These Pharisees try everything they can to get this once-blind man to follow their self-designed fanfic of God. But all they meet is the once-blind man’s snarky question asking whether their interest to hear more about Jesus is because they want to follow him too. They even try to threaten the once-blind man’s parents with social exile if they don’t lie about him being born blind.

When all of this fails, they send the once-blind man away. Although, some follow him for a little while, because a number are mentioned to be there when Jesus meets that man again. The once-blind man speaks his faith in the Messiah who’d healed him, but the Pharisees stick with their fanfic.

In John 9:39, Jesus says, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” To which some today might ask, “Jesus came to judge?” as they recoil at the idea of judgement having any part of love.

But this question about the connection between judgement and love might just show such individuals to be on a similar path as the Pharisees who also question Jesus. Because the Pharisees ask, “Are we also blind?” Could it possibly be that their fanfic was less than godly? Could their preferred characterization of God be faulty? Could they be misrepresenting the true character of God?

Jesus answers yes. Their fanfic about God is wrong. And he follows up that simple answer with a story that aligns with the truth of God. Although, we often miss the connection because of the chapter break.

The parable speaks of sheep and shepherds, along with thieves who seek to steal, kill, and destroy the sheep. Jesus states that he is the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. He’s also the Door to the sheepfold that protects the sheep inside. He is the truth that calls the sheep to life.

But the thieves are those who only want what’s best for themselves, rather than what’s best for the sheep. They’re the ones who try to sell a lie of personal preference that’s been frankensteined onto half-truths. They’re the spiritual fanfic writers, like the Pharisees, whose ways lead only to death and destruction.

This is Jesus’ point in telling the parable. He’s calling the sheep—us—to listen to his voice. We must hear his words, his truth—the whole of it—rather than our personally preferred fanfic. He wants us to hear the truth of life, not follow after the thieves interested only in lamb chops.

But the question arises, how can we be sure which is the truth and which is the fanfic? How is it that we can be sure to follow Jesus’ voice rather than the voice of the thief?

Jesus answers that very question in his story here. In John 10:4, Jesus not only says that he knows his sheep, but that his sheep know his voice. Those who belong to him should spend so much time with him and his word that we can tell the difference between the canon story and the fanfic. We should know it so well that we flee from the voice of the thief, like verses 5 and 8 show.

We learn the voice of the Shepherd by spending time with him. We can tell the canon story by reading it. We know the character of God and his people because we have invested time with them.

This is the reason why we should spend time with the bible itself. And always use the word of God as the measuring stick when listening to various interpretations of godliness. (Which is why I repeatedly tell you to look at the words for yourselves, rather than just take my word for it.)

Yes, the process of learning the voice of the Shepherd will take time. And it will require us to release our grip from our favorite spiritual fanfics. But experiencing the actual canon story of biblical history is the only way to learn the voice of the Shepherd. And the good news is that his voice calls us to life.

Will we be sheep who joyfully follow the voice of the Shepherd who served us by dying for us? Or will we follow the spiritual fanfic authors who want to serve us as lamb chops for themselves?

Knowing that difference has far greater consequences than some storybook tweaks.