Question:  Dear Greg,

            I am interested in the debate over how much sway a human has in his/her own salvation.  The more I think about it, and the more I try to live it, the more mysterious it becomes.  C.S. Lewis said in his “Screwtape Letters” something to the effect that only Christians of long experience with God can be expected to be humble.  I have had victories, but I sense that they didn’t come as a result of my own strength.  When I pray for him to change my heart, then I gain the mastery.  But what if I don’t want to change my heart?

            You discussed an example of a bum being offered a wonderful supply of food in replacement for his previous scanty fare in the dumpster.  However (and I know that analogies are not to be taken too far), this doesn’t quite fit with my experience.  I see it more like this: God gives us directions to a diner on the other side of town, where we’ve never been, and the fare in the dumpster is convenient and often quite tasty!  We’re supposed to believe in a stranger’s goodness and brave all sorts of inconveniences to prove that it’s for real!

            Consider the Judas figure in “Matrix”.  He knew the steak he tasted wasn’t real, but he didn’t care.  The real world was a barren wasteland which offered hardship—no comforts—only freedom.  He chose comfort.  Why would anyone choose hardship in freedom if the comforts were in bondage?  Sure, we can look forward to heaven, but what if we are dying of thirst?  It’s sure easy to preach about victory in Christ when your belly is full.  The choice looks easy from our perspective when it’s someone else who is suffering the endless misery of a marriage that won’t respond to the correct solutions and Satan offers a shortcut to ease the loneliness.  When you’re in the trenches you gasp at the enormity of how painful life can be.  When he asks us to give it up (our very lives), we’re not feeling the cost.  When some asked to come along, Jesus warned that he had no place to lay his head.  He wasn’t kidding.

            Thanks for letting me vent a little.  It has helped to put it into words.  We can take what is in our hands, or go for what is behind door number three.

            Lee

Answer:  Dear Lee,

            Thanks for your thoughts and insights.  I very much agree with some of your conclusions and thoughts.  Thank you for sharing them.  A thought or two in return:

1.      The CS Lewis quote.  Yes, I believe the best examples of humility I have seen are in the lives of mature Christians—men and women who have benefited from a long life of being in Christ and Christ being in them.

2.      Why indeed choose hardship in freedom?  The spiritual typology here goes back to the reluctance of Israel to leave Egypt and its creature comforts behind.  The old quote speaks to the all too common human choice, “Here is my freedom.  Give me now my bread.”  That’s human history--comfort and security over truth, justice and freedom in Christ.

3.      Yes, it is easier to preach about victory in Christ when the belly is full. However, that does not mean the only time we can preach about victory in Christ is when we are empty and suffering.  It is true that when we have been “around the block” a few times we can (but don’t always, sadly), appreciate the freedom we have in Christ and the riches of God’s grace in a way we might not when we are younger, more naïve, etc.  A young preacher once gave a sermon about suffering and afterwards an 80-year old man who could barely walk—a widower, grandfather and great-grandfather, a military veteran--came up to the pastor and said, “Great sermon, pastor.  I have one request.  Please wait about 20 years and then preach it again."

            Thanks for your thoughts, Lee.  Hope mine add to your insights.  You opened by saying you were interested in the idea of  “how much sway a human has in her own salvation”.  I thought you were going to contrast the Arminian and Calvinian positions.  If you have not looked into those views, you might do some study in that area.  We have a few questions (use Search our Site) on those topics that are posted.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht