I have already had the blessing of reading several of the Screwtape Letters before this class, but every time i read them I gather entirely new thoughts. I essence, The Screwtape Letters are a series of fictional letters from a high-class devil named Screwtape sent to a his nephew, Wormwood. In the letters, Screwtape refers to God as 'the Enemy,' and the young Christian that Wormwood is 'working on' is known as 'the patient.' It is indeed a brilliant backdrop, as even when Screwtape refers to 'good,' it is actually evil.
In reading Letter XII again and pondering the follow-up questions, I began to think about something I've never thought about before. Lewis writes, "For this reason I am almost glad to hear that he is still a churchgoer and a communicant." This phrase definitely raises suspicions, as even one of the review questions asks: How can churchgoing habits be good or bad? I thought about this for a long time and decided that this question could be rephrased as: How can churchgoing be good or bad? Many people would think that I am crazy for asking this question, claiming that of course everyone should always go to church. Let me tell you a
story.
A very good friend of mine used to go to church devoutly, but I always questioned his out-of-church life. One day he stopped going to chuch entirely and told me that I was "in bondage." Meanwhile he continued to fall (in my opinion) to a path that was not good. Bear in mind that this guy has known the Lord very closely and knowns the hypocrisy of the church, to whatever extent it has it.
The point of my example is that I believe that telling my friend to go back to church if you wan't to get close to God, may not be the right answer. Does he even belong at church? I personally think that It would be awesome if he started going to church again, but for me to tell him that he need to start going to church is not right. Paul writes in Matthew that it is bad for the man who knew Christ and has fallen away, than for the man who never knew and will discover. I believe that that scripture is applicable in my friend's case. I think that going to church is a PRODUCT of knowing God, rather than a MEANS of getting to know got for the person that fell away.
Very good point--we should attend church with the intention to learn and grow in our faith through worship and Christian fellowship, not expect that simply attending services will somehow magically mold us into ideal Christians or make us righteous. However, I think that church is somewhere we should go to meet God initially as well as grow in our faith later on. It is certainly not the only way to encounter God, but I think it is one way we can do so.
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