This entry has been inspired by C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, wherein a senior demon, Screwtape writes to his nephew and junior devil, Wormwood.
Dear Wormwood junior
Lovely to hear from you. We are proud to know that you are settling so well into the churches to which you have been assigned. There are plenty of weaknesses to exploit. In the main most of your people are so worried about decline, driven by guilt and working so hard that they have become slaves to the very faith that is supposed to give them life. Engineering conflict her is easy. It is like sowing weeds, sitting back, and letting nature take its course. It is much easier now than it was in my day. We are convincing the world to think that they are saying more, whilst they are in fact communicating less. We are managing to separate the message from the messenger. People do not even talk face to face anymore, and so it is easy for us to generate misunderstanding and suspicion. The battle is over before they even gather in the same room.
We hear that you have already managed to create a couple of skirmishes. Well done you. We loved the argument in the kitchen about whether the tea should be served in mugs or cups, and how you managed to convince that person to feel put out because someone else had brought the milk. There is nothing like raised voices and an argument to distract people from their real task. As for creating that ‘disaster’ mid-way through, when the milk ran out and someone had to go out to the corner shop – well that was a lovely piece of work. There is nothing like making a drama out of a crisis that is not really any problem at all, especially when after all that seething tension and outward display, people put it down to a ‘personality clash’. The very term seems to suggest that no one is to blame and nothing can be done. Meanwhile the resentment rises….and the grace and goodwill that these Christians talk about simply evaporates. As you will find, most of them are pretty useless at being straight with each other. Or if they do they go completely overboard. Either way, it is child’s play. Underneath things are simmering. This is the way we like it.
We don’t want to quell your enthusiasm but whilst you might be able to trap some this way, undermining churches is a subtle affair. Not everyone is this weak. Whilst some people are easily misled, others – those who know their Lord well – will be more resistant. You can’t come at them quite so directly. These are the ones who believe that our enemy, their crucified God, still have the power to transform lives. Some of them have been groomed by their parents and grandparents, and have seen it happen in their own lives. Sometimes it happens thought literature or conversation, and they find their way to church. Thankfully, not of them will be open about this (being ‘reserved’ for some is a typically British trait) – but in a way this makes it harder to spot the danger. Be careful not to be too full-on when trying to discredit these witnesses. Fortunately, the lie that secular is best, that reason is all that matters, and that spiritual experience (let alone revelation) is suspect, still works for us. It is much easier to debunk someone by saying that they struggle with their emotions, or that they are reading too much into how God might be at work around them. As for scripture, try to tempt preachers away from the idea that people can be transformed by just reading the words. Get them to present scripture as ‘story’, rather than ‘truth in poetry or account’. Try tempting them to focus on its history – something from which they are detached, rather than something that they are a part of. If truth is mentioned, steer them to what is true for one person not necessarily being true for another. On no account let it be known that the congregations that they address can experience God in the same way as those in the book. Whatever you do, keep the focus off Christ. Major on churches being a centre for community, rather than worship and faith. And whatever you do, don’t allow people to dwell on the resurrection. Once the Holy Spirit moves upon them, and they believe that they can experience the power of God, there is little we can do. Don’t lose heart though. If you do the simple things well, you will honour our cause.
One area where we have had great success is in limiting people to thinking that things cannot change. We have ground them down so hard that the story of decline is within them. There is very little prospect that they will stand again, or believe that something new will come about. Some even talk openly about the Church just being there for them when they die. More than this, we are still seeing great success with the idea that Church is just for a Sunday. If we carry on in this way, we might be lucky and create tension between those who are new and exploring faith and attending midweek, and those who have been there for much longer. If you listen carefully enough you can hear them cry, ‘When will we see them come to church on a Sunday.’ Our best option is to return back to that art of building up resentment again. There are places where we are losing the battle – in other parts of the world, but in Britain the battle is certainly not lost.
From Screwtape junior.