Bickering

In C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape is an upper-level functionary in the complex bureaucracy of hell, and his nephew, Wormwood, is a little demon given the assignment of recruiting people for hell.

At one point Lewis has Screwtape saying to Wormwood, “You will find that the church is fertile soil. One of the best places to find recruits for hell is the church.”

Lewis’ Screwtape even has specific advice for Wormwood:
“Keep them bickering over programs, procedures, money, organization, personal hurts, misgivings. Keep them bickering. Whatever you do, don’t let them see the banners wave, because if they ever see the banners wave, we’ve lost them forever.”

As Christian followers of Jesus, where is the center of our attention? What do we spend our time talking about and debating? Is the center our personal relationship with Christ and how He within us can and will guide us, protect us, and keep us on the right track?

Here is a partial list of church in-house bickering which I believe would make Wormwood happy:
· The Rapture. One side says, “It’s going to happen. Get right or get left. If you don’t believe it now, you will when you watch as all ascend, and you will then suffer the consequences of your lack of belief when you get yours in the tribulation.” The other side says, “This rapture idea is not right. The Rapture occurred already in 70AD with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.”

· Politics. One side says, “If you don’t vote Republican, you are either a temporarily deranged Christian, or at worst probably an anti-God Demon-crat.” The other side says, “The Bible says to stay out of politics completely – don’t vote at all.”

· Baptism. One side says, “The only way to be baptized is to be a mature adult, to be fully immersed under water, in the name of Jesus. If you weren’t baptized like that, then your baptism is not valid, and if you want to join our church you’ll need to be re-baptized in our church by our pastors.” The other side says, “Get those children baptized as soon as possible. Sprinkling them is all it takes to get them saved.”

· Lord’s Supper/Communion. One side says, “The body of Christ is right there within the bread of communion so therefore we need to receive communion as often as possible and it must be received in our church, not somewhere else.” The other side says, “The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of Christ’s death. As Christians, we already have Christ living within us all the time. Communion must be taken once a month, it must be grape juice (never wine), it must be unleavened bread.”

· Evangelism. One side says, “You must ‘witness’ and you must give others your ‘testimony’. If you don’t, then how will the church grow? If you don’t evangelize you are a lazy, perhaps Laodecian Christian.” The other side says, “What good does it do to evangelize? God has already elected and chosen who will be saved.”

Have you looked up recently to see the banners of Jesus wave? Two things about the Cross of Christ: 1) The Cross of Christ drives out C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape, his nephew, Wormwood, and all of the other demonic powers of hell once and for all. They are still corrupting and perverting, but their time is limited, and the outcome of history is certain. They lose. 2) Jesus on the Cross gave us the ability to have a spiritual, vertical, personal relationship with God. Religion is almost exclusively a horizontal enterprise – with a focus on the importance of our exertion and effort in the here and now. Religion is all about what humans can do to please and appease God. Christianity, however, is about a vertical relationship with God. Christianity is about God coming out of the heavens to dwell within us in the person of Christ, doing for us what we can never do for ourselves.

Some propose, in yet another earth-related in-house squabble among Christians, that the great anthem, “Onward Christian Soldiers” be homogenized so that it is not so war-like…or deleted from our worship altogether.

At the risk of offending the politically-correct among us, permit me to note, along with C.S. Lewis, the hymn’s emphasis on the Cross of Christ and on His banners that fly above us.

Here’s the first verse, in case your part of the body of Christ has censored it:
Onward Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the Cross of Jesus, going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
SEE HIS BANNERS GO….

Be Christ centered. Set aside dissension and pride. Focus on our Lord and Master. May all that we do be because of Him IN us, because of Him FOR us, because of Him THROUGH us – devoted to Him and centered in Him.

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