March 8 Thought for the week
“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. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
That quote is from The Screwtape Letters, a fictional account of a senior demon teaching his nephew how to tempt humans. The main message of the book is how evil often works subtly, drawing people away from God in barely noticeable ways rather than through obvious attacks. This quiet, creeping influence is often more dangerous because it is harder to recognize and resist.
I am old enough to remember when there was no cussing on TV. Back then, not only did unmarried people not sleep together on TV, but even married couples slept in separate twin beds. I also recall hearing the first curse word on TV—it was mild by today’s standards, but I’ll never forget my mother jumping up, turning off the TV (remotes didn’t exist yet), and saying, 'Not in this house!'
But as Lewis wrote above, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one. Today we have TV and movies, and music full of sex, nudity, cussing that would make a sailor blush, adultery, and worse. Sadly, it’s not just lost people watching and listening to these; they have become so commonplace that they have slowly migrated over into real life. Even when these things interact with most Christians, there is barely any notice or disgust; it’s simply shrugged off as everyday life, and we seem to condone them by our silence. We seem to have forgotten Ephesians 5:11-12, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”
Too often, it seems that many churches have also gone the way of the world. Satan has slowly and stealthily infiltrated the church, mostly unnoticed, and twisted people’s minds so that the church looks like the world. As Terry said in his sermon on Sunday, apostasy of the church is one of the last signs before the return of Christ.
To fight against this gradual drift from God, we must intentionally focus on God's Word and the truth it teaches. Philippians 4:8 gives us clear guidance: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Staying anchored in these truths helps guard us from subtle influences that would pull us away from God.
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