The adage “mind over matter” concerns the soul’s use of reason to live well in the body. Of far greater importance, though, is the spirit’s use of wisdom to guide the soul. People who love and trust God first through Jesus are spiritually aware. They see what is of eternal significance as they portage their earthly rivers of uncertainty every day.

Christians should know the essentials of spiritual health. They also should understand the necessity of healthy bodies and minds. The Bible uses the common elements of water and food to teach us about God and eternity. Jesus called Himself the water of life. He told the Samaritan woman at the well that if she drank from His well (John 4:13–14), she would not need water from an earthly well to quench her deepest thirst. Everyone has that deep thirst within them—the thirst to be whole, feel whole, and be loved—but not all will avail of the Living Well.

When our physical bodies lack life’s necessities, they begin to die. Our spirits prepare for bodily death and the inevitable hereafter. Seriously overcome with thirst, we become dehydrated. When we lack water, our minds may see or think they see things that do not exist. People who get lost in deserts sometimes see mirages of bodies of water.

Our minds can trick us into accepting falsehoods, especially during spiritual decline and/or increased spiritual warfare. With heightened evil, spiritual mirages abound and deceive even the elect into thinking that they are amid Christians when they are not. In the Bible, God repeatedly warns readers to be on guard. They must discern the words and deeds of those who, while cloaked in Christianity, do not follow Jesus Christ.

Spiritual mirages are not just where we would most expect them; they lurk in places where we feel safest. The devil strives to steal from us what is most important: faith, salvation, and trust in God—our peace of mind and hope of glory. This fallen angel uses everything, and everyone, to lead us astray. The spiritual detractors and false actors that he uses are not members of one denomination or residents of one country. They live everywhere, in the most appealing of places. Even repentant sinners can fall and lead others into sin. This is why we must always be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

I remember as a child playing True or False. Part of the fun of the game was finding out that truth was often stranger than fiction. Because it is. While most things can be verified through books and internet searches, some are not easy to determine. Differentiating between fiction and non-fiction is not easy, partially because literature’s popularity is not based on whether it is real or true. The popular fiction genre is driven by skillful writing.

Too many, however, are goaded into thinking that fairy tales and myths (including Santa, the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, elf on the shelf) are innocent fun. Too many think that they are real, just as some fans think that the actors they follow are the characters that they play. When childhood is over, some adolescents find it difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction. Some even question if God is real. While I never had trouble distinguishing between God and “Christian” holiday culture, I find it disconcerting that so much of what Christians celebrate is stretched truth at best. Even in churches, too much of the historical biblical narrative is added to or replaced with fiction.

Christian lives must be based on honesty. They must reflect biblical morals and values, not try to fool children into falsehoods and materialism. We can have fun telling fairy tales when we know that they are fantasy. Increasingly, however, the Christmas story is becoming indistinguishable from the festival of lights, trees, and gifts that reflects the popular cultural narrative. In many affluent places, Christianity’s truth has been replaced by an ever-growing “Christian” fiction to the delight of those whose work it was to squelch the sacred truth.

Even more serious are those renowned theologians whom God may find guilty of heresy in their use of tall tales to teach Christian doctrine. Highly qualified liberal theologians may cleverly coax some gullible Christians into their way of thinking, but God uses humble devout servants to spread His good news. Not everybody enjoys fiction. Some prefer realism.

Personally, I do not see God—perfect truth—in fiction because God is sovereign and cannot be represented by lies. While our dramatic endeavors to illustrate the Bible may shed light on God’s greatness, Bible-believing Christians would never consider their work as fiction or of their imagination because this would be adding to or taking away from God’s Word. In all His glory and greatness, God is always personally awaiting His beloved there in the spirit realm.

We are only one thought—one milli-second—away from the best company there is. God’s company cannot be compared to any human company. When Jesus returns to set up the new heaven and the new earth, He will judge the righteous from the unrighteous. I have little faith that fiction will have anything to do with the majesty that is to come.