I've done it to myself again: I have not been able to post the next chapter when I said I would. However, I was called upon to do substitute teaching yesterday in addition to working eight hours at my cashier's job; I was quite simply too exhausted from such a day to do anything but fall asleep last night. However, here is the next chapter of the Screwtape Letters!
Wormwood's patient has apparently fallen in with some people who are, for lack of any better words on my part, habitual skeptics. Another tempter by the name of Triptweeze has given this information to Screwtape, who is of course delighted by this news. Screwtape goes on to mention that these new friends can with Wormwood's help turn the patient to standing in a false position that is directly opposite to his faith. By continuing his friendship with these people, the patient will display many cynical and skeptical attitudes which are not his, but he will pretend that they are. Screwtape goes on to mention that many human beings turn into the things which they imitate, but he cautions Wormwood to prepare against a counterattack by the Enemy.
First up for the junior tempter is to delay the moment when the patient realizes that his friendship is a temptation. Keeping in mind that all friendships are not temptations (it really does depend on the type of friendship, mind you; do your friends bring true joy and happiness into your life and do you return that joy and happiness to them in kind?), the instructions from Screwtape are clear: keep the patient in a haze and unaware of the real danger of this group of friends to his faith. The warnings from Christian writers about Worldly Vanities, Choice of Friends, and Value of Time at this point are scarce, though Screwtape understandably does not like hearing warnings against Mammon (material possessions) which are apparently more common. The patient may classify such things as "Puritanical", the word usage of which Screwtape delightedly celebrates as the means by which tempters 'rescue' thousands of humans annually from temperance, chastity, and sobriety of life.
However, once the patient realizes the problem of being friends with the skeptics, Screwtape warns Wormwood to adapt his tactics according to the patient's response. Either the patient can be induced to live two seemingly different lives (there have been songs written about this phenomenon, and compromise is often mentioned in association with it in very unflattering terms), or the patient can be tricked into believing himself as the individual who believes that he sees very cleverly the big picture which no one else sees in either his friendship circles or in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, that he is the perfectly complete, balanced, and complex person in comparison to all others in his knowledge. A current of underlying self-satisfaction is what Wormwood is to aim for with the second course of action. The final resort for Wormwood if the first two tacts fail is to instill a vague accusation in the patient that his putting off of these new friends is intolerant, that he is being rude somehow. In continuing this friendship, Wormwood is aiming not only to drag down the patient's faith, but also to destroy his obligations to work and home by depleting his finances and stealing his time.
Believe it or not, there is a very real danger present in our friendships with the wrong crowd. I do not mean that we as Christians cease to strive at bringing new believers into a relationship with Christ and the church of believers that exists all around the world. Far from it. I believe that one of the main themes presented here is "Choose your friends wisely". Although friends can be innocuous and very good for all of us (being the social creatures that we are), friends who encourage us to actively participate in habits and deeds which stand in direct opposition to what the Father has called us to be and do can destroy our faith. I sincerely doubt that Lewis is telling us to avoid such people altogether. However, we must look at such people and invite them to join us in our walk with Christ. Acceptance or denial is then the choice presented to them, and they may choose one or the other. Believers should not be asked to compromise their relationship with Christ for the sake of friendship with someone else, though; such compromise is dangerous for a believer to engage in, however 'Puritanical' and 'intolerant' it may seem. For myself, I do not wish to lead two lives in two separate settings. I did so for several years as a collegiate athlete, being a rough-and-ready American football player who loved physical violence and vitriolic language six days of the week before going to church on the seventh day and seeming to be a very respectable and well-spoken individual to the men and women who sat on either side of me.
This is not to say that collegiate athletics are to be avoided. I say again that I have led two seemingly separate lives and the strain on myself from such a fallacy was beginning to destroy me. Christ asks us to walk with him and not with the world in which we live or the people surrounding us who do not also walk with Christ. He calls us to be uncompromised in our lives with Him so that we may carry His Good News to those people. If you have questions about living a double life or want to comment on my experience or your own and how this is a temptation to be avoided, please feel free to comment on this post.
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