Mere Christianity – Episode 185
What is up with Christians? The classic by CS Lewis, Mere Christianity is a must-read for any of you who are searching. Are Christians really any different than everyone else? Well, they should be and if you tune into today you will hear why.
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Mere Christianity in CS Lewis’s famous words shows us the human condition in a classic way. The book actually came about after a series of radio broadcasts and it was compiled at the time and has undergone some revisions. I was blessed to read the book some years ago – and I say blessed because it greatly impacted my life. I mean how can the author of the Chronicles of Narnia write other than painting a picture with words. Recently on a road trip with my son heading back to college, we listened to this on audiobook and we were both riveted at times, with me taking copious notes and overwhelmed at times when we had to stop the tape to just think about what he was saying and let the deep thoughts sink in.
Lewis talks about free will and that because we have the will to choose that God is real. To believe that this is all there is that there is no God takes a greater leap of faith than in believing that we have new life in Christ, that Jesus is who He says he is and that we believe it on the authority of Christ. This Christ-life is inside of us once we believe and Christians are in a unique position because everything we do that is good is done in Christ – through Christ. We believe that no man can be saved without Christ. And, at the end of time, it will be too late to decide, the time is now.
Perfection is an ideal that holds some people back because it is not attainable on this side of heaven. We all live in a space and time that is influenced by good and evil and this is distilled down into morality. We as men have morals that either tend to the right – the left or somewhere in-between which God tells us in His word is not a good place to be – Revelations 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
We will all fail – that is a fact of life, but inside of us is a sense of peace when we do what is right. The general purpose of why we were made is to know the Lord God, Almighty.
In the book, he talks about morals in the sense of fair play, harmony, and the general purpose of life. I urge you to get a copy of the book and read it for yourself because I can not do it justice. But he talks about this in the sense of who we are as persons and how Christians are called to a higher standard.
What good is fair play if inside us we are morally corrupt? We are doing things just so others think we are good and honorable when that is the farthest thing from the truth. You see, God knows our hearts. God has given us the sense of right and wrong and those who do not have this are morally bankrupt. For those of us who have faith, we base our faith on what we consider truth and fact. We are not going to believe in a counterfeit – although there are plenty of watered-down Christianity in name only churches out there. But our faith is based on the Holy Bible, the truths handed down to us over generations, and the purpose that we were made to know, love, and serve God.
Let’s back up to that last statement. If you were not a Christian, that could bother you – not so much the knowing and loving part but the serving. Why should we serve God? Well, if we know and love a person how could we not be thankful and in their debt and therefore want to serve them? The fact that God made us for His own purpose is so that we could also share in His Kingdom because we are talking about the King of Heaven and Earth – the everlasting kingdom where we have the opportunity and the invitation to live forever. Isn’t that amazing and that should be our goal.
CS Lewis speaks extensively about morality as well – and in this case, he talks about the differences between morality and immorality. Morality deals with serving others where immorality Lewis says is when we think we, the individual, and our wants and needs are more important than others. That is immorality at its core. It can be hurting one other to hurting entire nations of people and bringing down civilizations. Sounds like something we are going through right now.
In listening to this book I could draw so many parallels to what is happening today to the breakdown of the moral code and religious beliefs to serve an anti-God. It starts with sexual sin and devolves into gender idealogy – so, follow the science and then throw it out the door when it does not serve your purpose. Food for thought.
Man by his very nature tends to be self-centered, me-first like a little kid, but if we stay in that position without knowing and treasuring our Christian heritage we will fall short. Lewis says even the right actions for the wrong reasons are still wrong.
This book should be required reading for every high school student whether a believer or not. The truths and the way he causes us to think not only about ourselves and the ways we have fallen short but also our world around us. As an aside here- if you are looking at this world and placing blame on others, and believe me I’ve done it as well, we have to first look within. The question is what are you doing? Sitting and ranting at the television, video, or even reading the news is not going to help our world. The only way we can help is to pray and ask the Lord where he wants you in this fight. In this case, we are all needed, men, women, and even children. This is a battle not only for our souls but the souls of our children and grandchildren.
And, while we think our world is a mess, it has been unfortunately since the beginning of the first sin, so let us pray.
Dear Father in Heaven, we your children are crying out to you and unlike the Israelites who did not want to listen to you, we. your children want to find you in the midst of our lives and ask you to lead us where you want us to go. I pray that you help us to listen, read and see the things you want us to see and do the things you lead us to do. Help us Lord and protect us and our families. Please, Lord, bless us and keep us safe and I pray for these specific needs… and I pray this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
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