In all honesty, I did not really enjoy The Screwtape Letters at first. C. S. Lewis writes through an imagined correspondence between demons, and I struggled with the voice. Screwtape seemed to show too much reverence for Christ for the conversation to feel convincing to me.
Once I understood why I was resisting the book, I changed the way I read it. I stopped expecting a realistic conversation between demons and began looking for the understanding of Christian life Lewis was working into the fiction. That was when I started finding a few gems.
When being “unselfish” turns into resentment
Letter 26 had the greatest impact on me. It explores the confusion that can hide behind the word unselfishness. I recognized that confusion because I had lived it.
For a long time, I believed I had put other people first without receiving much gratitude. I felt used. Eventually, I reacted by deliberately becoming selfish for almost two years. Part of that was rebellion; part of it was hurt.
Lewis helped me see that my experience was not unique. Keeping quiet about what I thought had not necessarily made me humble or loving. It was encouraging to recognize that Christians can misunderstand selflessness in this way.
I began to see that I could speak honestly about what I thought without assuming that having an opinion made me selfish. Silence and self-denial do not automatically make an action Christlike, by which I mean loving in the way Jesus loves.
The distractions that keep faith shallow
The book also widened my understanding of temptation. Christians often speak of “the enemy” or “the kingdom of darkness” when describing spiritual opposition to God. Lewis imagines that opposition as patient, adaptable, and interested in much more than stopping someone from becoming a Christian.
His demons also want to keep an existing Christian’s relationship with Christ from deepening. Distraction, resentment, and unnoticed habits can serve that purpose without looking especially dramatic.
That was one of those “Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense” moments. I already believed that evil opposed faith. I had given less attention to the ordinary ways it might keep faith from growing.
I am glad I finished this book. I still have reservations about its fictional voice, but Lewis helped me examine both the pressures around me and the assumptions I was carrying within me. That made the reading worthwhile.
Book discussed
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, especially Letter 26.
A question in the margin is a good place to begin.