Becoming More Like C. S. Lewis in 2014
To date, I haven’t produced an
Oscar-winning film. And even though that ship has been unmoored (it’s getting
ready to set sail), I still find in myself a desire to be publicly lauded and
appreciated. To a certain degree, I think we all want that. (Yep, I’m dragging
you all down with me on this one. I don’t want to hang out in this dirty pit
alone, so welcome to the club.)
Which brings us to the example of
C. S. Lewis. This past November marked the 50th anniversary of Lewis’ death. A recent
national conference, The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life & Imagination in the Life of C. S. Lewis,
sought to explore the key to Lewis’ influence. To begin with, though,
conference host John Piper blogged about an important distinction. That blog
post pierced my fame-enamored heart:
I want to know the keys to [Lewis’] influence because there is a
difference between wanting fame and wanting influence. Christians should want
to be influential. We should not want to be famous. Wanting fame means wanting
to be known and praised by lots of people. Wanting to be influential means
wanting lots of people to know and praise God because of how you spoke of him
and lived before him.
When left unchecked, my heart gravitates toward a pursuit of
fame instead of influence. Sometimes the two overlap; often they don’t. A
proper spiritual alignment reminds me to set my sights on influencing others
for the glory of God, whether my sphere of influence includes three people or
three million people. On that final day, the Lord
will reward His children, not for their level of worldly success, but for their
faithfulness with what God had given them, whether it was a lot or a little (Matt.
25:14-30).
Over the past several weeks, Shannon and I have been going through the main sessions and small talks given at this conference. We’ve learned several fascinating things about C. S. Lewis that we had never heard or read before. You can go to this page to view all the messages for free, but I want to recommend a few in particular.
Over the past several weeks, Shannon and I have been going through the main sessions and small talks given at this conference. We’ve learned several fascinating things about C. S. Lewis that we had never heard or read before. You can go to this page to view all the messages for free, but I want to recommend a few in particular.
Why Lewis abhorred typewriters
(9 minutes). Why did Lewis never back down from his refusal to use a
typewriter? The ultimate reason is intriguing.
When Lewis
declined to write for Christianity Today (15 minutes). I didn’t know that Lewis was
given the opportunity to write for Christianity
Today magazine. I also didn’t know that he turned down the offer. Find out why here.
Lewis on Biblical inerrancy (60 minutes). This main session doesn’t shy away from
Lewis’ doubts about the inerrancy of Scripture. In fact, it digs deeply into
the matter, unearthing some revealing facts.
C. S. Lewis is quite different from a lot of famous and influential
Christians today, as Piper explains in his introductory blog post:
Some people are influential because they attract
attention with their avant-garde, unorthodox views. C.S. Lewis boasted of being
an “intellectual dinosaur,” not avant-garde. Lewis was not at home in the
modern world. He never learned to drive. He never learned to type. He rarely
read newspapers. And his clothes were frumpy. The air he breathed was medieval.
In other words, he was not influential because he was cool.
Remembering C. S. Lewis, I want to avoid the traps of
coolness and fame. Granted, coolness and fame aren’t knocking on my door to
begin with. They’re more like the angel of death avoiding the doorposts stained with blood.
Nevertheless, my heart’s motives are important. I don’t want to foolishly
step outside those doorposts in pursuit of popularity; doing so might just kill
me.
With that in mind, I want to glorify God and love others in how I write here at Happier Far. God willing, that goal will inform my efforts on the blog this year. Maybe I’ll never make it to the “big time” (whatever that actually means)—and that’s probably a good thing. Whatever the case, may this blog be a place where readers encounter the grace of God, not a megalomaniac’s ego. Lord, let it be so.
With that in mind, I want to glorify God and love others in how I write here at Happier Far. God willing, that goal will inform my efforts on the blog this year. Maybe I’ll never make it to the “big time” (whatever that actually means)—and that’s probably a good thing. Whatever the case, may this blog be a place where readers encounter the grace of God, not a megalomaniac’s ego. Lord, let it be so.