Titus 3:9 (NIV)
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels
about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
As a part
of my daily devotions, I have been reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S.
Lewis. This book was first printed in 1942. It consists of a series of letters
between a senior demon and a junior demon. The senior demon, Screwtape, is
instructing his nephew, Wormwood, in the art of tempting humans. The goal is to
turn them away from “the Enemy” (God) so that they would be absorbed by the
Evil One.
By
looking at temptation from the side of the tempter, we see more clearly Satan’s
attacks on all of humanity and especially on those who believe in Christ. These
letters can alert us to the more subtle and often unnoticed tactics that Satan
uses to lead us astray.
I have
been challenged by many of the letters, but recently one of then stood out as
particularly apt for today. In this letter Screwtape considers the question of
whether “the patient” should be pushed toward being a pacifist or a patriot.
Screwtape says that either route is acceptable as long as it becomes the most
important thing. The most important thing is to make the thing take on a life
of its own and becomes “a cause” to fight for. Screwtape ends the letter with
the following advice.
“Whichever he adopts,
your main task will be the same. Let him begin to treat the Patriotism or the
Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of
partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and
gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part
of the “Cause,” in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent
arguments it can produce in favor of the British war effort or of pacifism.
Once you have made
the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes
very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. “
(The Screwtape
Letters, chap. 7, page 35)
As I
read those words, I was struck with how much they reflect the current state of
affairs in our country. Christianity has become a means for attaining
nationalism, or equal rights, or whatever cause you like. We have bought into
the lie.
When I
was actively pastoring a church, I developed what are called plumblines for
ministry. I got the idea from Larry Osborne. A plumbline is a way of deciding
if something fits with our overall ministry vision and goals. One of my
plumblines was, we will be a Christ centered church, not a cause centered
church. As many pastors are, I was bombarded with requests to promote this
cause or that cause. Each one was presented as the most important thing to
focus on. No matter how important a cause is, it is secondary to the Gospel. Whenever
we make a particular cause the most important thing in our life, we have made
it into an idol.
There
are many worthy causes out there. But when we make our cause the most important
thing to pursue, we have gotten off base. We are to be devoted to the cause of
Christ above everything else.
1 Timothy 1:3-7
(NIV)
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you
may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote
themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather
than God's work--which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which
comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have
wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be
teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what
they so confidently affirm.
Colossians 2:20-23
(NIV)
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as
though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not
handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish
with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such
regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed
worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they
lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
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