CS Lewis – Jayzilla

Not A Tame Lion

Here’s another exerpt from a devotional I get in e-mail. I love it when we can challenge the common, complacent views of Christians and hopefully get us thinking much more deeply.

And there is much to give one comfort in believing. Probably the most important things are forgiveness, God’s grace to us, his mercy, the knowledge of his presence, and the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter.

But following God is not only about feeling good. There are also challenges by Paul to grow and be ruthless with the sin in our lives, John’s indictments in Revelation about mediocre faith, and James’ admonishments to have a faith backed up by good deeds. But of all the New Testament voices, no one forces us to think differently than we normally would think more than Jesus himself.

There are simply no warm fuzzies with Jesus, or as C.S. Lewis put it in The Chronicles of Narnia, he is not a tame lion. He would heal people and then tell them not to tell anyone who did it. He forgave a woman caught in the act of adultery and then told her to go on and stop sinning. He gave Peter his greatest compliment and followed it up with the harshest putdown. And when his disciples enthusiastically stated their willingness to follow him wherever he went, he challenged them with whether or not they could drink the cup he was going to drink – meaning the cup of suffering and death.

One of the greatest temptations in the ministry is to take the edge off these difficult aspects of following Christ. We want to make it easy for people to join our churches. We want to equate being a Christian with the American dream. We want to get forgiven and keep on sinning. We want to have it both ways, but Jesus was never compromising.

Too true.

-j

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Lewis is Brilliant

I have never been into Clive Staples Lewis’ writings, but with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe film coming out soon, I wanted to get the books read before I watched the movie. I’m nearly at the end of The Magician’s Nephew, and I came across a quote that I find just outstanding.

“The fruit always works – it must work – but it does not work happily for any who pluck it at their own will.” – Aslan

Now, anyone knows that Lewis used a ton of Christian imagery in his books, especially the Chronicles. I believe Aslan is obviously an allegory for Jesus Christ, Narnia is either Heaven or a New Earth (or the Garden of Eden – Aslan calls humans sons of Adam or daughters of Eve, for crying out loud), and the creation of Narnia was a wonderful allegory for the Creation of the world (which also greatly resembles Tolkein’s story of creation in his Silmarillion). But the nuances in the books are so subtle, yet so distinct. The quote above is one example. The fruit referenced is an apple-type fruit that would give youth and healing to the one who eats it. This fruit was good – it was created by Aslan himself. But there were warnings with the fruit, warnings that if used in the wrong way, the fruit would produce very bad things. It would give the eater what they wanted, but with it would come eternal despair. How can something created for good have a potential for evil? It all depends on what we do with it.

I was immediately reminded of following God’s will. Have you ever felt that God was showing you a glimpse into His plan for your life, but was telling you clearly that now is not the time to carry out that piece of the plan? He has often given this to me, because I ask for it, and then tells me “But you must be patient.” There is much truth in what Aslan said above. When we run ahead of God, even if it’s in His plan, it suddenly becomes *our* plan, and not *His* plan. I’m also reminded of the phrase “the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing”. Well, apparently C.S. Lewis felt the same way.

Let’s be excited to know God’s plan for our lives, but let’s also be cautious to listen to His word and wait on His timing. Let Him right your story, and you know it will be the greatest story ever told.

-j

Not A Tame Lion

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Lewis is Brilliant

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