In this letter, written in the perspective of Screwtape, Lewis describes how the devil tries to take us down by a slow process of getting dull and lukewarm. It really hit me when I read that churchgoing can be extremely dangerous if just simply becomes an external habit. Because we go to church and have Christian friends, we can possibly trick ourselves that we are on the right track, where in reality, we are not growing at all.
This way of becoming dull to Christian life can be especially dangerous to MK’s, such as myself. As we travel around the globe, going to church on Sundays can simply become a tradition, something that we do because we have always done it. It is very easy to lose track of why we are doing what we do. I often find myself viewing church as something I just have to go through and get over it so that I do other things I’d like to do on that Sunday. It crucial to be aware of the fact that the devil is using this to slowly drag us away from God, so that we can stand firm on what we believe and fight against the dullness that is attacking us.
According to the Screwtape Letter, this dim uneasiness that comes from dullness in our spiritual walk will increase our reluctance to think about God. I find that to be so true when I am not doing good in my walk in faith. I feel reluctant to think about God, because I know I’m going to have to face the guilt of failures. It is actually the presence of God that scares me in these times. The devil uses this uneasiness to drag us further away from God until we want other things to distract us so that we won’t have to think about God.
Once again, it is crucial to be aware that this is how the devil attacks us. Often times it not the sins that we consider the really big bad ones that drag us away from God, it could be something as simple as boredom that slowly gets us. Instead of just assuming that we are right with God, the Bible tells us to constantly test our faith to see if it’s true and real. It also says that God will be faithful and true we confess our sins, so we don’t have to be caught up in our guilt when we approach God.
Thanks for being so honest! I can sort of relate to you because I'm a PK.. haha I really liked what you said in the 2nd paragraph: "Sundays can simply become a tradition, something that we do because we have always done it. It is very easy to lose track of why we are doing what we do. I often find myself viewing church as something I just have to go through and get it over with". When I was younger, I completely agreed with you (and maybe sometimes I still do). I guess we just have to remember that that is what Satan wants to happen.. how are we going to combat it?
답글삭제Josh, I think we all feel the same as you. Many of us have been raised in Christian homes. And we think because of that, or because we go to a Christian college, we are living a faithful life.You're so right, too, when you say boredom can be the very thing that gets us. We must not be content! Nice job. I really enjoyed this post.
답글삭제I see what you are saying about MK. I was a PK for the first 12 years of my life and I was at the church my dad pastored so much it was very comfortable. I would run around and play and help out wherever but when it came time to sit and listen to the sermon I really didn't want to. I was lukewarm and it was very easy to fall into that trap. I see it as a rollercoaster a lot of the time. We are up then down then up then down etc. with our faith. We need to stay on solid ground with God and I think finding that home church or Christian community as soon as you can it the best way to do that. Even if it is just temorary it is good to have when you are in that location. At each location we move to as we grow older I think one of the first things we should do is search for a church or some Christian small group to plug into and get involved to keep us hot instead of just sitting and getting lukewarm
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