“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Philippians 3:8-9 ESV
Most every American knows what happened on November 22nd, 1963. The day that the music died. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But there was another man that passed away that day and he is one of my literary heroes, C.S. Lewis. Mr. Lewis had recently retired from teaching Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge in England when he suddenly passed away from renal failure. He wrote a great many books during his life, Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and one of my all time favorites, The Screwtape Letters. The last one is a book that has touched me deeply in my life and continues to inspire me.
I have read it more than once (five or six times actually.) This series of fictional letters written by an elder demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, is, in my opinion, a classic example of mentoring (the evil kind but educational none the less,) as Screwtape encourages Wormwood to be even worse than he already is. Mr. Lewis is a gifted story teller and through this work of art, we see how Screwtape touches on the ways that Wormwood can pull his human away from growing in a relationship with Christ by reaching his human nature.
For example, he tells Wormwood to prevent his person from looking inside himself to evaluate how he can be a better person. Instead, Wormwood must get him to concentrate on the hypocrisy that he can see in the person seated down the row from him every Sunday in church rather than comparing himself to the standards that Christ has set. A standard that we all fall short of every single time.
Lewis understood that the Christian life was not something to ease into like a cold pool of water, dipping our toes to check the temperature, when in actuality we are called to jump headlong into the water that is Christ. That idea caused the elder demon to instruct his nephew to "talk to him about 'moderation' in all things." "If you can once get him to the point of thinking that religion is all very well and good up to a point, you can feel quite happy with his soul."
Reading this book has always made me question whether I was really committed to following Christ or was I simply dipping my toes? Am I as passionate as Paul was describing in Philippians 3:8-9, discarding the things that didn't matter to God and counting them as "rubbish," getting rid of things that hinder my relationship with Christ? If you haven't read The Screwtape Letters I would encourage you to grab a copy and give it a read and allow the words to prick your heart. If you have read it and haven't thought about it in a long time, I would encourage you to grab your copy and re-read it as a reminder of how easily your faith can be hindered by the things that don't matter.
God wants all of me. He doesn't want me in moderation. He desires all of me all the time.
Most every American knows what happened on November 22nd, 1963. The day that the music died. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But there was another man that passed away that day and he is one of my literary heroes, C.S. Lewis. Mr. Lewis had recently retired from teaching Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge in England when he suddenly passed away from renal failure. He wrote a great many books during his life, Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and one of my all time favorites, The Screwtape Letters. The last one is a book that has touched me deeply in my life and continues to inspire me.
I have read it more than once (five or six times actually.) This series of fictional letters written by an elder demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, is, in my opinion, a classic example of mentoring (the evil kind but educational none the less,) as Screwtape encourages Wormwood to be even worse than he already is. Mr. Lewis is a gifted story teller and through this work of art, we see how Screwtape touches on the ways that Wormwood can pull his human away from growing in a relationship with Christ by reaching his human nature.
For example, he tells Wormwood to prevent his person from looking inside himself to evaluate how he can be a better person. Instead, Wormwood must get him to concentrate on the hypocrisy that he can see in the person seated down the row from him every Sunday in church rather than comparing himself to the standards that Christ has set. A standard that we all fall short of every single time.
Lewis understood that the Christian life was not something to ease into like a cold pool of water, dipping our toes to check the temperature, when in actuality we are called to jump headlong into the water that is Christ. That idea caused the elder demon to instruct his nephew to "talk to him about 'moderation' in all things." "If you can once get him to the point of thinking that religion is all very well and good up to a point, you can feel quite happy with his soul."
Reading this book has always made me question whether I was really committed to following Christ or was I simply dipping my toes? Am I as passionate as Paul was describing in Philippians 3:8-9, discarding the things that didn't matter to God and counting them as "rubbish," getting rid of things that hinder my relationship with Christ? If you haven't read The Screwtape Letters I would encourage you to grab a copy and give it a read and allow the words to prick your heart. If you have read it and haven't thought about it in a long time, I would encourage you to grab your copy and re-read it as a reminder of how easily your faith can be hindered by the things that don't matter.
God wants all of me. He doesn't want me in moderation. He desires all of me all the time.
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