May I Have Your Attention, Please?

***This is a letter written in the style of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. In this fictional book, Screwtape, an experienced demon, teaches his nephew how to tempt a human into following the path of Satan instead of following Jesus.***

Greetings, fellow demon. I read in your last letter about how you have been trying to prevent your subject from attending church. While it is true that church can help your subject to learn about Christ (which we try to avoid at all costs), it can also be a wonderful place to stir up bitterness and anger. There are several delightful ways to accomplish this.

First, lead your subject to a church that is run by those who do not follow the teachings of Christ. This can be done by leaders who don’t preach the gospel, or more subtly by people’s behavior. When he goes to a church and sees arguments, anger, and apathy from the very people who are supposed to be showing the love of Christ, this will surely discourage him. In fact, the hurt caused by these people may be so great that it pushes him to give up on church altogether.

Second, even if your subject goes to a church where people do show the love of Christ in their actions, focus his attention only on what they do wrong. Every human (except Jesus, of course) does wrong, and you can capitalize on this. Make him think himself superior to those around him, instead of realizing that he, too, does wrong and needs God’s grace and forgiveness.

Of course, it is ideal to keep your subject from going to church at all, especially those that handle the Bible carefully. The more he is exposed to the message of how Christ died on the cross to take the punishment for his sins, the harder it is for us to sway him from his faith. However, by strategically placing him around those who do not live out the faith they profess to have and directing his attention only to others’ faults, you may be able to use his church attendance to our advantage. Signed, a superior demon. • Hannah Zeller

• Have you had a hurtful experience at church? Who is a trusted Christian you can talk to?

• How does remembering God’s grace (both to us and others) help when we have been hurt?

…let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another… Hebrews 10:25a (NLT)

Read Verses:

Daniel 3-4; Matthew 19:23-26; Mark 10:23-27; Luke 15