This section of "Mere Christianity" had so much information packed into such a small amount of writing. Lewis' clear and concise way of wording things allows him to pack many profound truths into just a few chapters. So in this blog, I am simply going to focus on two small sentences. Bits of blunt truth that were very convicting for me.
The first of these quotes is from chapter 1, and it states “Selfishness has never been admired.” How true this is! Lewis is just giving an example of a trait that people have agreed on for a long time now. Even now, in the age of individualism and “it’s all about you”, “you can be whomever/whatever you want to be”, etc., it is still no fun to be around selfish people. The theme of selfishness has come up over and over again in what we have read so far from Lewis. For example, the other day when Professor Paulo was talking about the steps towards misdirection on our vocation road map; the very first step was a “feeling of self-importance”. I guess I am just being reminded that selflessness is an important aspect of our faith.
On a separate, but related note, the other quote is from the note at the end of chapter 4. It is just a small sentence describing the “Life-Force” idea, saying, “All of the thrills of religion, and none of the cost.” It just reminded me of the watered-down, lukewarm religion that Screwtape told Wormwood to encourage. Often I feel that, whether we have the “Life-Force” belief system or not, we employ the same self-centered idea of religion. Lewis says, “…a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you.” This is when religion becomes selfish, when we only use God when we need Him, and keep Him contained in our box.
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