An Ode to Lewis and Love

For those of you who may not have a near relationship with me, or maybe even those of you who do, I am a fan of Clive Staples Lewis.  He was a brilliant writer, an exceptional apologist, and a decent theologian.  Yet for the vastness of his catalog, there is one in particular that distills this mighty man's theology and intellect the best: Mere Christianity.  Today's blog is a take on one of his essays in that book, an essay on loving and liking.  It is a riff on the commands to love thy neighbor as thyself and to love thine enemies.  (Disclaimer: I will be speaking a lot about self-love in this article; do not mistake this as a sidestep from the reality that all love stems from God's love.  Rather, the love that is God's is the foundation by which this whole argument rests upon.)

The major thrust of this argument begins with an internalization of the question, chiefly, how do I love myself?  But perhaps it is best to strip the layers to a more accessible breadth: why do I love myself? What for?  And does this love mean that I have to like or accept ever part and piece of myself?

I can only speak for myself in this regard but I, like C.S. Lewis, can think of many components of my person that are, shall we say mildly, unlikeable.  To say it more directly there are parts of me that are downright repulsive, repugnant, and abhorrent.  But luckily this love that I have for myself can look past these qualities, yet I have not ever been so un-self-aware as to ever 'misplace' these parts when taking inventory of myself.  On the contrary, it is my love for myself that chastens me to call out those 'lesser' parts as the evil putrescence they are.

I can not accept those bits of myself that are sinful and evil for to do so would be, in fact, the most unloving thing that I could possibly do.  However, it is my love that presses on beyond those deficiencies to offer merciful, forgiving love.

Translating this from the introspective to the external perspective, when God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves He is not saying that we need to pretend that their flaws do not exist and we should not conceive of evil as anything else when we love our enemies.  Rather, we know that love moves past those elements in the expectant hope that the sinfulness can and will be transformed by Christ's transformational love passing through us.  Let then strive to love in this way, not judging but loving with hope and mercy and forgiveness just as Christ has loved us!

Lord, Liar, or Lunatic

John 14:6–"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

In C.S. Lewis' classic work Mere Christianity, he makes the statement that there are only three possibilites for Jesus: either He is the Lord, a liar, or a lunatic.  This phrase proposition comes to mind when I read this rather radical declaration from Jesus.

There is no getting around it.  People can talk ill of Christians and they can provide countless proofs of the Christian camp overstepping their bounds, behaving lovelessly or hypocritically; however, the situation remains: Jesus.

We cannot miss this vital point.  He is the heart of Christianity.  If you want to know what a film is about, you can watch the preview and get some critiques from trusted friends, but until you see it for yourself you have no basis for review yourself.

Jesus is it.  Coming to grips with Him is the very essence of humanity just as it is the very fullness of God.  To put it mildly, Jesus made some outlandish claims about Himself.  These claims form the basis of Christianity.  The claims can be ignored, to be sure, just as a fire alarm can be ignored until one passes out from smoke inhalation.  Yet, the wiser thing by far would be to address the proclamations, assess the evidence and come to a conclusion.

Lewis, the master that he was, arranges it so acutely.  Either Jesus is Lord, a liar, or a lunatic.  And if He is the latter two then the Christian truly is to be the most pitied and gullible wretch of humanity.  But if the former is the truth, then creation is to be reckoned by it.  In fact, if Jesus is Lord then the whole of life will be transformed by virtue of His Lordship.  This alone is enough to warrant inquiry.

Clive Staples Lewis.

Clive Staple Lewis, more commonly known as C. S. Lewis, was a mighty mind and an expert linguist.  His english skills were of such mastery that he held the teachings posts at Oxford and Cambridge, two of the finest universities of the highest repute.  He made a name for himself as a literary critic and scholar, but it was his children's novels, particularly The Chronicles of Narnia, that made him the star he was.

However, arguably Lewis' greatest writings were not of fanciful fare but of theology.  The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity rank among the highest theological wares ever composed outside of Scripture.  Because of this (not to mention that I am a fan), I wanted to post just a couple Lewis quotes to tickle the day and maybe spark some thoughts.

"You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body."

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that He will make us good because He loves us."

"We are not necessarily doubting that GOd will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."

"Pain insists upon being attended to.  God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.  It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

"I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer.  You yourself are the answer.  Before Your face questions die away.  What other answer would suffice?"

This is just an introduction.  Suffice to say that God is good and we should not ever disconnect from the Christians of centuries' past.