Screwtape Letters: Letter XII

Although it is only a few pages of The Screwtape Letters, Letter XII is one of the most powerful and eye-opening passages I have ever read. It directly applies to my own life in nearly every aspect and really shows how dangerously I have been living. In the letter Screwtape encourages Wormwood in his temptation of “the patient”. Specifically, this letter addresses lukewarm living, and how once a person becomes spiritually comfortable, that is when they can be furthest from God. If someone stops pursuing God and merely becomes content with his spiritual state, the devil will use the false confidence to mask what he is really doing. In Screwtape’s words, “My only fear is lest in attempting to hurry the patient you awaken him to a sense of his real position.” We cannot always accurately see our own position. We may think that, because we are going to church, we have an adequate spiritual life. This thought can mask what is really happening: we are just going through the motions, slowly slipping away from God. It would almost be better if we didn’t go to church at all. Then, at least, we would not have any false confidence; then, at least, we would be able to realize there is something missing. Admittedly, a churchgoer may still feel what Lewis calls “a dim uneasiness”. However, the devil can use even this to his advantage: it amplifies our unwillingness to think about God. “When thinking of Him involves facing and intensifying a whole vague cloud of half-conscious guilt, this reluctance is increased tenfold.” We might have an inkling that there is something not right, but we refuse to fully acknowledge it, because then we’ll have to deal with it and cease being comfortable. In order to maintain this comfort, we will continue to perform our religious duties (e.g. go to church, do devotions, even pray), but we will not enjoy it. They will become just that: duties.

I very much fear that this is happening to me. When I read this letter for the first time during Prelude I was amazed at how well it described me. I have always thought of myself as a “good Christian”, but I have never been passionate about my faith. I don’t do the big sins like murder that Screwtape talks about in the last paragraph, but I am brimming with small sins. These are often obscured by the false spiritual confidence I have. It scares me to read, “Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” To all who are reading this, I ask that you pray that my life be instilled with passion, that I work on becoming uncomfortable, that I regularly take a step back to look at my faith, to ensure I am not slowly slipping down this gentle slope. Please pray that the Holy Spirit fills me so that I can live for Christ wholeheartedly and constantly, instead of just marginally and sometimes, as I have been. Please pray that God shines a light on my dim uneasiness, so that my errors are apparent to me and I can stop slipping backwards.