If I had to suggest one book that people should read (next to the Bible) it would be C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. It’s a story of one demon giving advice to another on how to tempt people. In one chapter the senior demon makes this statement: “We have made men proud of most vices, but not of cowardice. Whenever we have almost succeeded in doing so, God permits a war or an earthquake or some other calamity, and at once courage becomes so obviously lovely and important even in human eyes that all our work is undone, and there is still at least one vice of which they feel genuine shame.”
Lewis, as usual, makes a brilliant insight–that cowardice is a unique kind of sin, one that has no silver lining at all. Some might boast of their skill at lying, stealing, sexual immorality, or maybe even of murder, but no one boasts of their cowardice. No one likes it, not even sinners. Calling someone a coward is a serious accusation.
In my own book, Arise, My Soul, Arise, I tell the story of a man, Olaf Taylor, who is rebuilding his life. And he’s doing pretty well at it–he’s got principles, and he’s even speaking truth to power. But in chapters 14-17 he encounters a skillful liar who portrays himself as a friend. Taylor allows this man to convince him that promoting Christian moral principles doesn’t pay, that there’s no market for them in the real world, and that he should give up what he is doing. And, for a time, Taylor does give it up, afraid of what he will lose if he doesn’t. The people closest to him (his wife and mentor) see what’s happening and try to steer him right, but Taylor resists. He has a discussion with his wife:
Taylor: [defensively]: “Are you saying that I’m washing out on God’s will?'”
Wife: “I didn’t say that…”
“It sounded like you think I’m compromising.”
“I only meant that we talked about this dream and now it all seems more…generic.”
“Well, it seems there’s no market for what I originally wanted to do. I can’t help that.”
“Market? Since when do you respond to what the market wants?”
“’Johnny Gamble [the lying con man] makes sense!’ I said, hitting the counter.”
I wrote that passage several years ago. It was painful to read. Last year, when I revisited the book to do final revisions and editing, I was shocked at how low I had allowed Taylor to sink. It was so disturbing that I considered rewriting it.
But I decided not to. I let it stand, painful as it was. Why? It was possible that such a thing could happen. Yes, it is possible for a Christian to fall short and chose cowardice over principle.
One of Keith Green’s songs called ‘The Grace By Which I Stand’ has some arresting lines that go: “…like Peter, I can’t even watch and pray/One hour with you/And I bet I could deny you, too.” That’s shocking and humbling transparency. And if we were honest with ourselves, we should admit that it is possible for us to fall, like Peter, under pressure.
But though it is possible, it is not advisable or noble. Nor is it inevitable.
How do we safeguard ourselves from it?
We can learn from how God dealt with Israel. God told the Israelites to invade and conquer Canaan. Canaan–with all its strong soldiers and walled cities–seemed too strong. But Israel had God with them.
Even so, God knew that there would be fears. This explains why “Be strong and courageous,” is repeated so often before and during the conquest. That four-word phrase is found eight times in the latter part of the book of Deuteronomy and in the book of Joshua. In that season Moses said it once to the people, Moses said it once to Joshua, Joshua said it once to the people, the people said it once to Joshua, the Lord said it four times to Joshua.
Why was there all this repetition? Because God knew of the human tendency to give too much place to fear.
The call to “be strong and courageous” was not a call to blind faith, but a call to have faith for future events based on clear facts from the past. God had a proven track record of trustworthiness. He had already given Israel victories (in getting them out of Egypt, in defeating other enemies on the way) and now He was expecting them to remember those past acts and have faith for the next step.
Christians have even greater things to go on than the Old Testament Israelites did. We live under the New Covenant. We have Christ’s life, his cross and resurrection, and the giving of the Holy Spirit. We have the greater revelation and insight of the New Testament. We also have our own personal experiences of God answering prayer and giving us what we need. These advantages are not to be wasted. The remembrance of them builds faith and is a cure for cowardice.
Today there are no shortage of things to ‘be strong and courageous’ for. There is a spiritual battle going on in our nation and it is more obvious than ever (Pride Month, for example). As our nation departs further and further from a Judeo-Christian foundation, there will be pressures to conform to the new morals of the modern age. It’s not pleasant but it’s our lot.
We’ve all had moments that were less than our ‘finest hours’. But when we remember what God has done for us in the past and give him credit for it, we are enabled to make the courageous choice in the present.
Until next week,
Dean Coonradt
In your pure illustrative style, you manage to show, and affirm us in The Word. How…to apply in our lives !! Thanks so much