“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” This terrifies me. C. S. Lewis has a way putting things so that they strike home, and this phrase from The Screwtape Letter's does for me. I think that it is because I have not committed many “big” sins, but am constantly struggling with all the little ones, or worse, not struggling. Thought of slowly drifting until the ground underfoot is so slick and steep that there is no stopping your slide seems much more of an immediate threat than outright apostasy.
The key to this is the unwitting nature of of the drifting away. It is not so much rebellion as mindlessness. Screwtape says, “He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.” To guard against self deception seems much harder than simple temptation, and that is how we usually fall. I think over the many times I have sinned, and I rarely think, “this is a sin, I will do it.” I am always justifying myself and refusing to acknowledge it is a sin.
How do we guard against the small sins and self deception? We can only do it through continuously measuring ourselves against our goal. God has given us milestones and signposts, it up to us to look at them. We can bath ourselves in His Word, and prayer. Community can self to pull us back. In the end, we must stay on our guard, and remember that, as Screwtape says, “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing.”
I like your comment in the second paragraph, "To guard against self deception seems much harder than simple temptation." The challenge of this statement is so true. I love your explanation of why we often sin. We rarely ever think, "I am about to sin" more often it is like "everyone else is doing it" or "this isn't a big deal" or "just this once." This is a scary chapter altogether, and a good reminder for us all to avoid the gentle slope.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said in the first paragraph really hit me: "I think that it is because I have not committed many “big” sins, but am constantly struggling with all the little ones, or worse, not struggling". I too often feel like I'm not struggling. I've been raised in a Christian family my whole life and I've never really strayed either.. That being said, I sometimes feel like I'm not being challenged in my faith (or growing). Does that mean I'm on a gradual downward slope? I don't know but that scares me.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the small sin that leads to the path of doom is exceedingly scary for me as well. It is not often (if ever) that I think to myself this choice could be the defining point in your faith. I really like your point about self deception too.
ReplyDeleteI agree that when we really consider this letter it is terrifying. I liked how you mentioned justifying oneself and self deception. It seems to me that people who are completely trapped in sin display both of these characteristics. They cannot even see why there is such a big problem in their life. My favorite part of your blog is your mention of bathing oneself in God's Word. This is so important because we will not be able to recognize and repent of sin unless we are constantly being reminded and holding ourselves in check according to the Word.
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