Finding Your Place In the World, Or, Is the World Finding It's Place In You

I still find C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Screwtape Letters”, to provide rich insight into the Christian life. In this book a head devil named Screwtape instructs a younger devil, Wormwood, in the ways of tempting a Christian by trying to get him to be fully comfortable and engaged in the world.

Listen to Screwtapes’ instruction to Wormwood on why and how he can use the Christian’s success and engagement in the world for their cause, “If the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it,’ while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home on Earth which is just what we want.” 

Screwtape then goes on to say what the enemy (which, from the perspective of the devil  is God), really wants, “The truth is that the Enemy, having oddly destined these mere animals to life in His own eternal world, has guarded them pretty effectively from the danger of feeling at home anywhere else.”

This is interesting.  C.S. Lewis suggests that God actively guards us from feeling too much at home anywhere because the devil is actually wanting us to find our place in the world.  And we remain unaware that  the world is finding its place in us.  The devil wants us to feel comfortable. He wants us to increase our reputation and our widening circle of acquaintances.  He wants us to feel important. In essence the devil wants the Christian to have a sense of being really at home on Earth.

What is truly insidious about this approach is that few people would dare to even  question the value of prosperity, reputation, a widening circle of friends, self importance, engaging work and feeling at home (especially if we achieve these things by Christian ethics).  Are these not worthy goals?  Should we not feel comfortable with our life and our place in this world?  Are we not supposed to find our little niche?. So, what is the concern?  

I don’t think the issue here is about Christians making strict rules of conduct for living in the world. Such rules usually only back fire and make things worse. Even if we could follow a strict set of rules for behavior we would be missing a deeper and more important  question.  And that question is: "To whom do I really belong" ?

I would suggest that as a starting place we should pay attention to where we honestly feel we belong and where we do not. If we really find our selves rather apathetic in regard to our prosperity, reputation, having a widening circle of friends and feeling important, then perhaps there is good reason for this inner experience.  Such an experience may be one of the most valid pieces of evidence that God is actually transforming us and guarding us and really has destined us to live in eternity rather than in the world.

Could ones present discontent, (often viewed by the world as strange) actually be an indication of where and to whom one belongs?

If you would like to dialogue with me on this topic, you may email me at suragea1@aol.com or post on this blog.