"Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis has been an intriguing read for me lately. A particular chapter in the book has me thinking about the importance of clarity and intentionality in ministry. The book is written from the perspective of one demon training his younger protege demon. The younger demon named Wormwood is assigned to an individual who comes to know Christ. The "more seasoned" demon encourages Wormwood with these words as he tries to bring down the believer in His new found faith:
“One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to the pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on them. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like ‘the body of Christ’ and the actual faces in the next pew....Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords.”
Lengthy quote I know. And remember it's from a demons perspective, so it's not necessarily accurate theology in regards to this believers new security in Christ.
But what got me thinking was how much is competing for the attention of people. There is in fact a spiritual war going on, and the devil wants anyone that steps foot into a church to be distracted; Distracted from the truth that their life is hidden with Christ on high; Distracted from the vertical adoration that belongs to Christ; AND for certain the devil doesn't want any unbeliever to be intrigued by the message of the Gospel.
So Screwtape encouraged Wormwood to distract his patient with the church itself! With the songs that were being sung, with the content that was being handed out, with the people that were in the next row, etc...
Maybe this is only challenging to me because of my current profession, but it can be applicable to anyone who is trying to challenge others with the Gospel. For me as a worship leader, and someone who works very closely with the content printed and put in media pieces, I want clarity of the Gospel, and intentionality behind the "why" to be so important.
Clarity- The main thing should always be the main thing, and the main thing is the Gospel. Our message, our content, our worship is all very closely tied to the clarity of Christ's redemptive work on the cross in light of our sinfulness.
Intentionality- Everything we do should have a purpose. In my case, it's choosing songs to sing at our church, writing content for videos or print material, providing direction for transitions or service elements...etc. All of these things can either become a distraction or a vehicle. For example, we sing a lot of songs, but there's a lot we don't sing because it's important that the song fits our purpose, and has clarity in it's message. Hopefully through thoughtful preparation, biblical clarity, and a desire to offer our best to The Lord, people's minds can be fixed on Christ.
There will always be distractions, and there will always be a spiritual battle for our attention. This has been challenging for me to think about whether I'm aiding the battle for the good or the bad. I find it so important regarding ministry and those gathering to worship Christ. Do our attempts to minister aid distraction or act as a vehicle to worship?