Discipleship Letter 113 Nov. 21st, 2010
The veteran tempter, Screwtape, writes to his young nephew, Wormwood, about human beings:
“To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing…We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct” [C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters; with, Screwtape Proposes a Toast (New York: Touchstone, 1996), p. 41.].
The nature of human beings is to suck in; the essence of Christian servanthood is to give out. Christians are not suckers, but givers. This is a simple comment, but it applies to most of us. After we converted to Christ Jesus, we’ve still carried this self-absorbed nature and kept sucking in. Christians become dull when we don’t flow out after being filled. Christian servicing is anti-human nature. Giving out is the way to be filled. “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness” (Jn. 10:10b). This is Christ’s promise. Whenever there is no giving out in serving, we turn His fullness into our dullness. Christian dullness is natural, for giving out is unnatural. Redemption is an unnatural act, for it reverses the sin order.
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Discipleship Letter 114 Nov. 28th, 2010
“For Calvin, theological understanding and practical piety, truth, and usefulness are inseparable. Theology first of all deals with knowledge—knowledge of God and of ourselves—but there is no true knowledge where there is no true piety” [Joel R. Beeke, “Calvin’s Piety”, in The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin. Edited by Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 125.].
The theme of Calvin’s theology is the knowledge of God and of ourselves. True knowledge of God shapes true godliness; true godliness propels us to pursue His knowledge. “…Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:7-8). In commenting on 1 Tim. 4:7-8, Calvin said, “Godliness is the beginning, middle and end of Christian living” (p. 126). For Christians, godliness is practical piety.
In Greek the word “godliness” (eusebeia) was first used by the Greek poet, Homer, in about 1000 B.C. It was used to describe “a person who was faithful in fulfilling his duties to whatever Greek gods dominated the city in which he lived.” [See http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics/godliness.html]
A godly person is not a sinless, religious freak. Rather, he fulfills his duties as if he owed to God, for God has done gracious works in his life.
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