Several months ago a reader of these blogs wrote me a gracious email encouraging me in my work and mission. He added that he had recently read C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity once again and as a result of this reading he had realized that the posture Lewis was teaching from was one that he rarely saw these days among Christians. He further noted that as he read Lewis he realized the numerous times he acknowledged that his own explanation might be inadequate, thus his argument might not help everyone who read his work. Lewis openly stated that people should not be bothered by either of these problems because it is the reality of the thing that he wrote about that really mattered much more than the clarity of human understanding.
My friend suggests, rightly I believe, that C. S. Lewis always seemed willing to do what many people seem unable to handle psychologically.
- Admit his personal limitations.
- Humbly put forth his best explanations and understandings in an attempt to help readers.
- Leave the reader free to treat the author as a peer who is simply trying to help. His attitude seemed to be: “Take what you find useful and leave what you don't.”
- He goes so far as to make you (the reader) actually feel comfortable if you disagree with him.
The irony here is that this seems like a really weak selling point to many people today. My friend says that in reality this is the only honest sell and the one that I think will reach people in a way that frees them to have real ownership of their own beliefs rather than having caved into dogmatic pressure only to find later that they have to rethink almost everything.
My friend thanked me for seeking to be transparent. I honestly hope this is the case. I know that I write my posts for several reasons:
- To express my own fears, doubts, questions, joys, humanness and growth.
- To encourage you, the reader, to seek God not my wisdom or particular insights.
- To help you think, often “outside the box,” so that your ideas will truly be your ideas as best you understand and process them through the revealed Word in Jesus Christ.
- To exalt Jesus above all others, and to prayerfully seek first the kingdom of God, along with you as my brothers and sisters. By this means I can speak to friends, both those I know and those I am getting to know through this means and even in person as God allows that to happen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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