letter xii title: lukewarm behavior fundamental principles for consistent spiritual walk

Letter XII

Title: Lukewarm Behavior Fundamental Principles for Consistent Spiritual Walk

Screwtape suggests his nephew Wormwood on how to lead his “patient”, through small habit forming changes, on a safe road to damnation; “Provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man” gently “without signposts”, “out into the Nothing.”

“So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth”Rev. 3:15-16

God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us the mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not things eternal: grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake our Lord. Amen. Book of Common Prayer

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Vocabulary

Key Words

Letter XII

Trivial Choices

Irrevocable Consequences

Church Going Habits

Prayer Life

Cumulative Small Sins

Letter XIIMY DEAR WORMWOOD,Obviously you are making excellent progress. My only fear is lest in attempting to hurry the patient

you awaken him to a sense of his real position. For you and I, who see that position as it really is, must never forget how totally different it ought to appear to him. We know that we have introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his orbit around he Enemy; but he must be made to imagine that all the choices which have effected this change of course are trivial and revocable. He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.

For this reason I am almost glad to hear that he is still a churchgoer and a communicant. I know there are dangers in this; but anything is better than that he should realize the break it has made with the first months of his Christian life. As long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was six weeks ago. And while he thinks that, we do not have to contend with the explicit repentance of a definite, fully recognized, sin, but only with his vague, though uneasy, feeling that he hasn't been doing very well lately.

This dim uneasiness needs careful handling. If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game. On the other hand, if you suppress it entirely—which, by the by, the Enemy will probably not allow you to do—we lose an element in the situation which can be turned to good account. If such a feeling is allowed to live, but not allowed to become irresistible and flower into real repentance, it has one invaluable tendency. It increases the patient's reluctance to think about the Enemy. All humans at nearly all times have some such reluctance; but when thinking of Him involves facing and intensifying a whole vague cloud of half-conscious guilt, this reluctance is increased tenfold. They hate every idea that suggests Him, just as men in financial embarrassment hate the very sight of a pass-book. In this state your patient will not omit, but he will increasingly dislike, his religious duties. He will think about them as little as he feels he decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over. A few weeks ago you had to tempt him to unreality and inattention in his prayers: but now you will find him opening his arms to you and almost begging you to distract his purpose and benumb his heart. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective contact with the Enemy. His aim will be to let sleeping worms lie.

As this condition becomes more fully established, you will be gradually freed from the tiresome business of providing Pleasures as temptations. As the uneasiness and his reluctance to face it cut him off more and more from all real happiness, and as habit renders the pleasures of vanity and excitement and flippancy at once less pleasant and harder to forgo (for that is what habit fortunately does to a pleasure) you will find that anything or nothing is sufficient to attract his wandering attention. You no longer need a good book, which he really likes, to keep him from his prayers or his work or his sleep; a column of advertisements in yesterday's paper will do. You can make him waste his time not only in conversation he enjoys with people whom he likes, but in conversations with those he cares nothing about on subjects that bore him. You can make him do nothing at all for long periods. You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a cold room. All the healthy and outgoing activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at last he may say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, "I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked". The Christians describe the Enemy as one "without whom Nothing is strong". And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,

Your affectionate uncle, SCREWTAPE

Area of Life Devil’s Advice God’s Way Questions, Observations and Strategies

Habits a. Do not attempt to hurry … you awaken him to a sense of his real positionb. a change of direction in his course … make him imagine…choices…trivial and revocablec. Slowly …into the cold and dark of utmost space”

a. Awake! Take the plumb line of righteousness and measure your “real position”b. no choice is trivialc. Walk, in the right path, until total day - you must not turn to them

a. Isaiah 28:17 “righteousness the plumb line”b. Joshua 24:15 “choose for yourselves …whom …serve ...we will serve the LORD." c. Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the righteous” till - full - day Jeremiah 15:19 “Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them”

Church Going

a. Maintain external habits “Better so than “that he should realize the break it has made with the first months of his Christian life”

a. Rejoice! rejoice with those who said…

a. Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced … who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’"

Spiritual Condition

Q # 2

a. SIN: make him think he has adopted - few new friends - amusements - spiritual state unchanged b. no need for repentance of sin c. keep vague, uneasy feeling of not been doing very well …increases reluctance - to think about the Enemy - dislike of religious dutiesd. Begging distractions and benumbing of heart

a. The Holy Spirit convinces us of sin - do not be stiff-necked!b. Repentance: turn away from evil so that times of refreshment may aboundc. do not rely on feelings (but the Holy Spirit may use it!- John16:8) but “be filled with the Spirit”d. Meditate on His law by day and night

a. John 16:7-8 “the Counselor will not come to you…He will convict …in regard to sin “ Acts 7:51 "stiff-necked people resist the Holy Spirit”b. Jeremiah 5:19-20 “repent… restore you … times of refreshing …may come”c. Job 24:23 “He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but His eyes are on their ways” Ephesians 5:18 “do not get drunk …filled with the Spirit”d. Psalm 119:97 “how I love your law! I meditate all day long” Ps. 23:6b; Ps. 119:11

Analysis Matrix – Letter XIILukewarm Behavior

Area of Life Devil’s Advice God’s Way Questions, Observations and Strategies

Prayer Life a. Unreal, distractedb. Avoid Contact with God

a. Practicalb. Pray continually… -Keep watch…

a. Philippians 4:6 “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”b. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually” Luke 18:1 “always pray and not give up”Mt. 25:13 “Therefore keep watch”

PleasuresDecisionsActivities

a. habit renders …less pleasant and harder to forgo - waste his time/boredom - do nothing/staring b. avoid healthy/outgoing … give nothing in return"I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked" - Nothing is very strong

a. seek the Lord -develop spiritual habits diligently -all is permissible -Be pure - use time wisely - sharing your faith b. "without whom nothing is strong".(Book of Common Prayer; The Lessons Appointed for Use on the Sunday closest to July 27, Year B)[1] -be faithful unto death

a. Hosea 10:12 “it is time to seek the LORD”1 Corinthians 7:29 “time is short” Phil. 1:6 ConfidentlyI Co. 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me” Ph. 4:8 be pure! Proverbs 12:24 “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness”1 Timothy 4:15 “Be diligent”b. Psalm 114 “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord”Mark 6:45-52 (Jesus walking on the sea) “They were utterly astounded”Rev. 2:10 “Be faithful, even to the point of death”

Analysis Matrix – Letter XIILukewarm Behavior

1. Are the simple choices we make on a daily basis really trivial and revocable? Can you give some examples of an apparently simple choice that ended up causing major life changing consequences?

2. How can church going habits be good or bad?

3. What is this “dim uneasiness” that Screwtape talks about?

4. How can we work diligently to keep a health prayer life?

5. How should we choose our friends and amusements? Describe the steps from “choice of friends” (a apparently small unimportant decision) to the “cold dark and utmost place”

6. Have you ever felt that “increased reluctance to think about “ things of God? And what sort of distractions affect your devotional life?

7. How cumulative are small sins? And how to prevent them to slowly and gently taking one into the safest road to Hell?

Questions for Discussion - Letter XII

Resistance StrategyVirtues and Stock Responses to Cultivate (Post-

Modern Context)

Resistance Strategy

Virtues and Stock Responses to Cultivate (Post-Modern Context)

Honesty

Letter XII

The Nature and Possibilities of Choices‘Milton was right,’ said the Teacher. ‘The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy – that is to reality. You see it enough in a spoiled child that would sooner miss its play and its supper than say it was sorry and be friends.

Every day we are - - - - -becoming or helping others to become Hellish or Heavenly creatures

Which Way?

For Every Choice One Makes (In Any Human Activity)

Leads to HeavenLeads to Hell

Two Possible Directions

Conforms to BGPDoes Not Conform to BGP

Uncertain

BGP = Beautiful, Good and Permanent

Letter XII For Further Reflections

The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous ConsequencesA Biblical Object Lesson

If we go to God’s Word, we find the story of Lot for example (Genesis 12:4) Lot , the lucky one, chosen out of all his cousins to follow along with his uncle Abram to the promised land. What an honor it must have been! (Apparently, it seems that he was thinking he was doing his uncle a great favor, instead of being a partaker via Abraham of God’s blessing!) They traveled together, uncle and nephew. I imagine the two, as the leaders of their clan, at dusk watching the setting sun. Waiting for their evening meal to be brought before them, discussing next day’s administrative issues. (Genesis 13:5) They would be discussing what direction to take: Abraham as their elder and the one hearing God’s voice, drawing the outlines of travel and its organization in the sand. There was a lot to manage…

They must also have been discussing their riches: sheep, camels, goats… So many where born, how are we dividing them? Can we cross that brook? Who is going to dig that well? Your men or mine? How do we resolve the fights? (consequences of God’s abundant blessings!) (Genesis 13:7) Then, one night, Abraham calls Lot for a walk to a mountaintop. They look out over a vast valley, two cities in the distance. Abraham says: (Genesis 13:8) We are growing too big, we need to take our separate ways, so we can survive in peace… You choose and I will take what is left.What did Lot reply? Had he not learned to respect the elder? Had his mother not taught him to say, “You choose first uncle, then I will follow suit”? (Remember, in that culture respect for age was of utmost importance) Instead, he looked at the possibility of trading a tent for a brick house. (Genesis 13:10) Exchange wilderness for civilization. Furthermore, he would be able to find educated husbands for his daughters instead of a shepherd’s boys… (Genesis 13:11) Consequently, the two men parted company. (Genesis 13:12) Trivial choices, small virtuosities missed, little details that grew and lead to huge consequences; never suspecting that he is now, however slowly, was heading away from God’s blessings right into the cold and dark desolation of despair. Could it be that the fights between their men were already a reflection of Lot’s disrespect for Abraham?


God’s blessings arrogantly or maybe it should say “ever so softly” disregarded and exchanged for luxuries. Even so, God cares. Nevertheless, a “stiff-necked” Lot (Acts 7:51) does not learn lesson, and the pattern is continued to the point that when the angels come to save him before the final destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he does not want to leave. (Genesis 19:12) “Get them out of here” was the order. But Lot, Lot would not be able to get all his finances in order, the future son-in-laws did not want to come along. (Genesis 19:14) They “thought he was joking”. (Genesis 19:15) Then, with the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." (Genesis 19:18) And his wife? Oh… his wife does not seems to be one hair better than Lot himself; she probably thought, as all housewives, “there is so much I would like to take along” I do not want to go, she looks back … (Genesis 19:26) turning into a pillar of salt.A pillar of salt? Do we really want to be a signpost for others? How can we be virtuous, if we, in the small things do not develop virtuosity? What sadness are the consequences of small, trivial revocable choices… In the final paragraph of the story of Lot’s life, we see a defeated, disillusioned, drunken father-grandfather. (Genesis 19:30) Living in a cave, an outcast (Genesis 19:36) lead to final, desperate survival attempts. Far from God’s blessings, he is unhappy, robbed of his chastity by his own daughters, ashamed even to meet his family. Even so, God is a magnanimous judge. When the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, return from Egypt, they are forbidden to harass Lot’s descendants. (Deuteronomy 2:9) Furthermore in 2 Peter 2:7-8 It is mentioned: “if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) - if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. And as such, the warning sounds: “Remember Lot's wife!” (Luke 17:32) Let us pray that we will be able to be faithful in the small choices! May Jesus say to us when we meet Him:

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.

Come and share your master's joy!” Matthew 25:21


The Danger of Small Choices The Danger of Small Choices Disastrous ConsequencesDisastrous ConsequencesA Biblical Object LessonA Biblical Object Lesson

library.thinkquest.org



If we go to God’s Word, we find the story of Lot for example (Genesis 12:4) Lot , the lucky one, chosen out of all his cousins to follow along with his uncle Abram to the promised land. What an honor it must have been! (Apparently, it seems that he was thinking he was doing his uncle a great favor, instead of being a partaker via Abraham of God’s blessing!) They traveled together, uncle and nephew. I imagine the two, as the leaders of their clan, at dusk watching the setting sun. Waiting for their evening meal to be brought before them, discussing next day’s administrative issues. (Genesis 13:5) They would be discussing what direction to take: Abraham as their elder and the one hearing God’s voice, drawing the outlines of travel and its organization in the sand. There was a lot to manage…



They must also have been discussing their riches: sheep, camels, goats… So many where born, how are we dividing them? Can we cross that brook? Who is going to dig that well? Your men or mine? How do we resolve the fights? (consequences of God’s abundant blessings!) (Genesis 13:7) Then, one night, Abraham calls Lot for a walk to a mountaintop. They look out over a vast valley, two cities in the distance. Abraham says: (Genesis 13:8) We are growing too big, we need to take our separate ways, so we can survive in peace… You choose and I will take what is left.



What did Lot reply? Had he not learned to respect the elder? Had his mother not taught him to say, “You choose first uncle, then I will follow suit”? (Remember, in that culture respect for age was of utmost importance) Instead, he looked at the possibility of trading a tent for a brick house. (Genesis 13:10) Exchange wilderness for civilization. Furthermore, he would be able to find educated husbands for his daughters instead of a shepherd’s boys… (Genesis 13:11) Consequently, the two men parted company. (Genesis 13:12) Trivial choices, small virtuosities missed, little details that grew and lead to huge consequences; never suspecting that he is now, however slowly, was heading away from God’s blessings right into the cold and dark desolation of despair. Could it be that the fights between their men were already a reflection of Lot’s disrespect for Abraham?



God’s blessings arrogantly or maybe it should say “ever so softly” disregarded and exchanged for luxuries. Even so, God cares. Nevertheless, a “stiff-necked” Lot (Acts 7:51) does not learn lesson, and the pattern is continued to the point that when the angels come to save him before the final destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he does not want to leave. (Genesis 19:12) “Get them out of here” was the order. But Lot, Lot would not be able to get all his finances in order, the future son-in-laws did not want to come along. (Genesis 19:14) They “thought he was joking”. (Genesis 19:15) Then, with the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." (Genesis 19:18) And his wife? Oh… his wife does not seems to be one hair better than Lot himself; she probably thought, as all housewives, “there is so much I would like to take along” I do not want to go, she looks back … (Genesis 19:26) turning into a pillar of salt.



A pillar of salt? Do we really want to be a signpost for others? How can we be virtuous, if we, in the small things do not develop virtuosity? What sadness are the consequences of small, trivial revocable choices… In the final paragraph of the story of Lot’s life, we see a defeated, disillusioned, drunken father-grandfather. (Genesis 19:30) Living in a cave, an outcast (Genesis 19:36) lead to final, desperate survival attempts. Far from God’s blessings, he is unhappy, robbed of his chastity by his own daughters, ashamed even to meet his family. Even so, God is a magnanimous judge. When the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, return from Egypt, they are forbidden to harass Lot’s descendants. (Deuteronomy 2:9) Furthermore in 2 Peter 2:7-8 It is mentioned: “if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) - if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. And as such, the warning sounds: “Remember Lot's wife!” (Luke 17:32)


The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences

A Biblical Object Lesson

Let us pray that we will be able to be faithful in the small choices! May Jesus say to us when we meet Him:

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.

Come and share your master's joy!” Matthew 25:21


A Practical Warning and consolation from Spurgeon’s archives:http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2447.htm

"God, and Not Man,"—What Does It Mean? A Sermon, (No. 2447), Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, January 12th, 1896, Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On Lord's-day Evening, March 17th, 1889. (Portions of)

"I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man."—Hosea 11:9.Next, if we had to deal, not with God, but with our fellow-men, we should very often find that, WHEN MEN

GET INTO A LOW, NERVOUS, SENSITIVE STATE THEMSELVES, THEY ARE USUALLY QUITE UNABLE TO BEAR WITH OTHERS. A person's temper often depends a great deal upon the state of his health. If a man is perfectly well, sound in mind and body, he can put up with a good deal; but there are times when the head aches, or when the tooth aches, or when the heart aches, or when there is an overpowering sense of nervousness upon you, and then you know what a very little thing will put you out. "Oh, take that child away!" you cry, petulantly, "I cannot bear its noise." That ring at the bell has startled you, that cry of the costermonger in the street has quite irritated you, and now you are in a very fit state of mind to act the part of a tyrant. One who was discussing a certain trial said, "I wonder what the jurymen are having for breakfast this morning, for their food will have a good deal to do with the verdict they will give;" and, no doubt, unless a person is himself pretty well, and in a good mental and spiritual condition, his weakness or his sensitiveness will make him deal severely with others even for a very small offense. What a mercy it is that the One with whom we have to deal is "God and not man"! Our glorious Jehovah is never weak, impetuous, unjust, ungenerous. He is always magnanimous, kind, gracious, forbearing. He is never in such a condition that he feels ready to be irritated with his creatures; but, self-contained and self-possessed, dwelling in the eternal sublimities of his own unsullied happiness, the God over all, blessed for ever, he is in that state of mind—if I may so speak of him after the manner of men,—that he is willing to pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin, he is a God ready to pardon, waiting to forgive the guilty. Could you truly know him, and see how free he is from those human frailties which lie at the roots of all irritability, and unwillingness to forgive offenders, you would understand what a mercy it is that he is "God, and not man." Come, poor soul, approach thy God; thou hast not to come before an angry judge, thou hast not to approach an austere person who is ready to take offense even at little things; but thou art coming to the infinitely-blessed God, who delighteth not in the death of any, but would rather that they should turn unto him and live.


http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2447.htm

letter xii title: lukewarm behavior fundamental principles for consistent spiritual walk

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