For my job, I'm required to read a chapter from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People each week. (I know, reading assignments for work, what an amazing idea.) We meet once a week with our primary supervisor to discuss what we've read. Once in a blue moon, she has us do an activity in addition to the reading. This past week, she handed us a printed drawing of chairs around a table and asked us to write the names of people who have influenced us on the chairs. One of mine was C.S. Lewis.
Clive Staples Lewis was an author who passed into eternity before either of my parents were born. However, his writings have influenced me second only to the Bible. When I was 6 years old, my mother introduced me to him through The Chronicles of Narnia. I was immediately hooked. With time, I have had the pleasure of reading more of his literature, both fiction and non-fiction. At first, I was in complete awe of him. I wondered how he could plausibly be so skilled at breaking down theological ideas into lay terms and even children's terms. To this day, whenever I re-read one of his books, I find something wonderful that I didn't notice before.
But then, one day, I came across a quote of his which caught my attention. "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."
I agree with this statement. It's logical and gets right to the heart of the subject at hand. However, there was yet another factor that made the quote stand out.
Christians usually go through a faith crisis, or a time of questioning their faith, at some point. Those who are saved in their adolescent to adult life had the crisis right before their salvation. Those who grow up in Christian homes typically have it during their journey. Most of the time, the children of Christian homes have this faith crisis in their adolescent to early adult years.
I had mine when I was 6 years old.
Imagine a 6 year old girl lying in her bed with the covers pulled right up to her chin thinking silently. I wondered if Christians had gotten it wrong. What if evolutionists were right and we really did come from apes? What if Buddhism or Islam was actually what we were supposed to follow? What if we not only were wrong, but the consequence was Hell? These questions ran through my mind for several nights. In the end, though, I came to this conclusion: Christianity was what I knew, and if it was right, it was highly important that I follow it.
This is exactly the same conclusion that C.S. Lewis had come to. Seeing his quote made me realize that truth transcends time and space. I had just connected with a dead man on an intellectual and spiritual level.
Recently, I came across another quote of Lewis's that reminded me of that connection. "If Christianity is true, then it ought to follow that any Christian will be nicer than that same person would be if he were not a Christian and that any man who becomes a Christian will be nicer than he was before."
Once again, I had had an experience in which we agreed before I knew we did. About two years ago, an unsaved friend of mine fell off of a cliff and went to the hospital. I visited him in the hospital a few times. During the first visit, he was groggy from pain, fatigue, and morphine. As I said goodbye, he looked me right in the eyes and said, "Thank you for everything you've ever done for me." I was taken aback. I wasn't sure what he meant by that statement. What had I done? The question pestered me until I finally asked what he meant on my third (and last) visit. He listed a few things, mostly pertaining to being a good friend to him. What he didn't know was that a year earlier God had told me to be his friend, even though I had been reluctant at the time. I told him that there was a reason I had done the things he'd mentioned. His response was, "I don't want to know why you do the things you do. I want to know why you are the way you are."
I could not have asked for a more open door. I said, "Well, it's because I'm a Christian." I proceeded to explain that, though there were nice people who aren't Christians, I knew that I would not be nearly as nice a person if I were not a Christian. I am defined by my relationship with my heavenly Daddy.
I found Lewis's quote in a book last week. It made me throw my hands up and say, "Woah!" Once again, C.S. Lewis and I believed exactly the same thing. The older I get, the more I realize that he thought about some of the same things that I do. He is a kindred spirit.
Lewis has also taught me things about the nature of God. He introduced me to the idea that God is outside of time. He showed me how God knows and loves us so much that He even feels our pain. He has been a teacher to me even though we have never met.
More importantly, we are family through Christ Jesus. I know that when my time comes, meeting Jesus face to face will be the most important thing on my mind. However, my present hope is that, somewhere along the way, I will get to meet and converse with C.S. Lewis. It's not about his fame. It's about our Daddy having used him to bring me closer to Him.
Clive Staples Lewis was an author who passed into eternity before either of my parents were born. However, his writings have influenced me second only to the Bible. When I was 6 years old, my mother introduced me to him through The Chronicles of Narnia. I was immediately hooked. With time, I have had the pleasure of reading more of his literature, both fiction and non-fiction. At first, I was in complete awe of him. I wondered how he could plausibly be so skilled at breaking down theological ideas into lay terms and even children's terms. To this day, whenever I re-read one of his books, I find something wonderful that I didn't notice before.
But then, one day, I came across a quote of his which caught my attention. "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."
I agree with this statement. It's logical and gets right to the heart of the subject at hand. However, there was yet another factor that made the quote stand out.
Christians usually go through a faith crisis, or a time of questioning their faith, at some point. Those who are saved in their adolescent to adult life had the crisis right before their salvation. Those who grow up in Christian homes typically have it during their journey. Most of the time, the children of Christian homes have this faith crisis in their adolescent to early adult years.
I had mine when I was 6 years old.
Imagine a 6 year old girl lying in her bed with the covers pulled right up to her chin thinking silently. I wondered if Christians had gotten it wrong. What if evolutionists were right and we really did come from apes? What if Buddhism or Islam was actually what we were supposed to follow? What if we not only were wrong, but the consequence was Hell? These questions ran through my mind for several nights. In the end, though, I came to this conclusion: Christianity was what I knew, and if it was right, it was highly important that I follow it.
This is exactly the same conclusion that C.S. Lewis had come to. Seeing his quote made me realize that truth transcends time and space. I had just connected with a dead man on an intellectual and spiritual level.
Recently, I came across another quote of Lewis's that reminded me of that connection. "If Christianity is true, then it ought to follow that any Christian will be nicer than that same person would be if he were not a Christian and that any man who becomes a Christian will be nicer than he was before."
Once again, I had had an experience in which we agreed before I knew we did. About two years ago, an unsaved friend of mine fell off of a cliff and went to the hospital. I visited him in the hospital a few times. During the first visit, he was groggy from pain, fatigue, and morphine. As I said goodbye, he looked me right in the eyes and said, "Thank you for everything you've ever done for me." I was taken aback. I wasn't sure what he meant by that statement. What had I done? The question pestered me until I finally asked what he meant on my third (and last) visit. He listed a few things, mostly pertaining to being a good friend to him. What he didn't know was that a year earlier God had told me to be his friend, even though I had been reluctant at the time. I told him that there was a reason I had done the things he'd mentioned. His response was, "I don't want to know why you do the things you do. I want to know why you are the way you are."
I could not have asked for a more open door. I said, "Well, it's because I'm a Christian." I proceeded to explain that, though there were nice people who aren't Christians, I knew that I would not be nearly as nice a person if I were not a Christian. I am defined by my relationship with my heavenly Daddy.
I found Lewis's quote in a book last week. It made me throw my hands up and say, "Woah!" Once again, C.S. Lewis and I believed exactly the same thing. The older I get, the more I realize that he thought about some of the same things that I do. He is a kindred spirit.
Lewis has also taught me things about the nature of God. He introduced me to the idea that God is outside of time. He showed me how God knows and loves us so much that He even feels our pain. He has been a teacher to me even though we have never met.
More importantly, we are family through Christ Jesus. I know that when my time comes, meeting Jesus face to face will be the most important thing on my mind. However, my present hope is that, somewhere along the way, I will get to meet and converse with C.S. Lewis. It's not about his fame. It's about our Daddy having used him to bring me closer to Him.
