When most people think of fairy tales they usually think of the old Disney movies they had on VHS. Maybe some think of the somewhat newer movies like Shrek or Up. No matter what, they are always a fantasy. It is fiction. Shrek, Up, Aladdin, Hercules obviously never really happened. What is it that makes these stories so popular?
If you know me even just a little bit, you know I love to read. It is probably my favorite hobby that I have. My parents read to me when I was growing up. My sister has a degree in English and my brother reads stories to his children every night. Reading is obviously a huge part of my family. I started reading the classic fairy tales and then moved on to books like Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, and Lord of the Rings (there will be a future article posted about LOTR). These fairy tales and fantasies are some of the most popular books and movies ever to be made.
They were the most popular books and movies to be made because they were great STORIES. This is not some opinionated, subjective belief but rather is a concrete fact. They show up on numerous lists of “10 best books of all time”. 
Elsewhere on this list are other stories with the same general themes, no matter how different the actual stories are. The Lord of the Rings films that came out in the early 2000’s made just fewer than three billion dollars in revenue. It is clear that these are some of the greatest stories ever told. The themes in these stories are what make them so great and so successful.
Yes, these stories are great. But there is a greater story that has been told. That is the story of Christianity, and it is the greatest story of all time. Regardless of whether Christianity is true or false, it remains the greatest story ever told. What makes these other stories so good is that they reflect Christianity. My favorite book is Lord of the Rings, and it would be categorized as a work of fiction. It is just as real as any work of nonfiction, though. Hobbits are real. In fact, I believe I am one. I see myself in every hobbit in the books. Orcs are real too, and unfortunately I see myself in them slightly as well. Even the creature of Gollum is quite real. The same goes for the “fictional” works of Lewis, Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald, Orwell, Rowling, Tolstoy, Steinbeck, and so many more.
But these are just works of fiction. So let’s move to nonfiction. A person does not see these elements of Christianity in the real world, right? Wrong. Recently, my friends and I have started watching Band of Brothers. This is a wonderfully done and completely true account of an individual company’s conflictions in World War Two. It was based off of a book compiled of firsthand accounts from the soldiers in this company. There is no doubt this work of nonfiction is true. The love that these men had for their country, their families, and their fellow soldiers is the same love that sent Frodo on the quest to destroy the ring and Harry on the quest to find Voldemort and destroy him. While one story actually happened and the other two did not, the love displayed in all three is completely and whole-heartedly true and alive in this world.
The themes in all of these stories, fiction and nonfiction, are actually quite similar. There is an intrinsically good protagonist with numerous struggles and conflictions and possible slight faults (just like all of us). The protagonist must deal with these problems, even if he or she does not want to, for the good of others. They must give up everything in order to help others. This act of utmost charity is synonymous with love. The ideal of sacrificial love is crucial to how good a story is because the BEST story was filled with it. In fact, that is the entire story of Christianity.
Jesus embraced His suffering and death on a cross, sacrificing His body and blood for the atonement of our sins. Jesus is an intrinsically good (the best) protagonist who “was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:5). The pillar, crown, and cross were Jesus’ infliction that He bore because of our sin and due to His love for us. It is this love right here, the actual moment in time and physical action of Jesus loving us by suffering and dying on a cross, that every good story tries to symbolize, whether the author knows it or not.
So I advise everyone to read. If God blesses you with children, read to them. Tell them stories. Read for fun and read for information. Tell them stories of fantasy and of sacrificial love. All of these stories are a little preview of the best story of all time.
In Defense of Sanity 