Letter XII
Title:
Lukewarm Behavior
Fundamental Principles for Consistent Spiritual Walk
Screwtape suggests his nephew Wormwood on how to lead his “patient”,
through small habit forming changes, on a safe road to damnation;
“Provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man” gently “without
signposts”, “out into the Nothing.”
“So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my
mouth”
Rev. 3:15-16
God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is
holy: Increase and multiply upon us the mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not things eternal:
grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer
Return to Outline
Vocabulary
Key Words
Trivial Choices
Letter XII
Irrevocable Consequences
Church Going Habits
Prayer Life
Cumulative Small Sins
Letter XII
MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
Obviously you are making excellent progress. My only fear is lest in attempting to hurry the patient
you awaken him to a sense of his real position. For you and I, who see that position as it really
is, must never forget how totally different it ought to appear to him. We know that we have
introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his orbit
around he Enemy; but he must be made to imagine that all the choices which have effected this
change of course are trivial and revocable. 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.
For this reason I am almost glad to hear that he is still a churchgoer and a communicant. I know
there are dangers in this; but anything is better than that he should realize the break it has
made with the first months of his Christian life. As long as he retains externally the habits of a
Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and
amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was six weeks ago. And while he
thinks that, we do not have to contend with the explicit repentance of a definite, fully
recognized, sin, but only with his vague, though uneasy, feeling that he hasn't been doing very
well lately.
This dim uneasiness needs careful handling. If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the
whole game. On the other hand, if you suppress it entirely—which, by the by, the Enemy will
probably not allow you to do—we lose an element in the situation which can be turned to good
account. If such a feeling is allowed to live, but not allowed to become irresistible and flower into
real repentance, it has one invaluable tendency. It increases the patient's reluctance to think
about the Enemy. All humans at nearly all times have some such reluctance; but when thinking
of Him involves facing and intensifying a whole vague cloud of half-conscious guilt, this
reluctance is increased tenfold. They hate every idea that suggests Him, just as men in financial
embarrassment hate the very sight of a pass-book. In this state your patient will not omit, but he
will increasingly dislike, his religious duties. He will think about them as little as he feels he
decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over. A few
weeks ago you had to tempt him to unreality and inattention in his prayers: but now you will find
him opening his arms to you and almost begging you to distract his purpose and benumb his
heart. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective
contact with the Enemy. His aim will be to let sleeping worms lie.
As this condition becomes more fully established, you will be gradually freed from the tiresome
business of providing Pleasures as temptations. As the uneasiness and his reluctance to
face it cut him off more and more from all real happiness, and as habit renders the
pleasures of vanity and excitement and flippancy at once less pleasant and harder to forgo
(for that is what habit fortunately does to a pleasure) you will find that anything or nothing
is sufficient to attract his wandering attention. You no longer need a good book, which he
really likes, to keep him from his prayers or his work or his sleep; a column of
advertisements in yesterday's paper will do. You can make him waste his time not only in
conversation he enjoys with people whom he likes, but in conversations with those he
cares nothing about on subjects that bore him. You can make him do nothing at all for long
periods. You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a
cold room. All the healthy and outgoing activities which we want him to avoid can be
inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at last he may say, as one of my own patients
said on his arrival down here, "I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I
ought nor what I liked". The Christians describe the Enemy as one "without whom Nothing
is strong". And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man's best years not
in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not
why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in
drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the
long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but
which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to
shake off.
You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are
anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that
matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. 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,
Your affectionate uncle, SCREWTAPE
Analysis Matrix – Letter XII
Lukewarm Behavior
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Habits
a. Do not attempt to hurry … you
awaken him to a sense of his real
position
b. a change of direction in his course
… make him
imagine…choices…trivial and
revocable
c. Slowly …into the cold and dark
of utmost space”
a. Awake! Take the plumb line
of righteousness and measure
your “real position”
b. no choice is trivial
c. Walk, in the right path, until
total day
- you must not turn to them
a. Isaiah 28:17 “righteousness the plumb
line”
b. Joshua 24:15 “choose for yourselves
…whom …serve ...we will serve the
LORD."
c. Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the righteous”
till - full - day
Jeremiah 15:19 “Let this people turn to
you, but you must not turn to them”
Church
Going
a. Maintain external habits
“Better so than “that he should
realize the break it has made with
the first months of his Christian life”
a. Rejoice! rejoice with those
who said…
a. Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced … who said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’"
Spiritual
Condition
a. SIN: make him think he has
adopted
- few new friends
- amusements
- spiritual state unchanged
b. no need for repentance of sin
c. keep vague, uneasy feeling of not
been doing very well …increases
reluctance
- to think about the Enemy
- dislike of religious duties
d. Begging distractions and
benumbing of heart
a. The Holy Spirit convinces
us of sin
- do not be stiff-necked!
b. Repentance: turn away
from evil so that times of
refreshment may abound
c. do not rely on feelings (but
the Holy Spirit may use it!John16:8) but “be filled with
the Spirit”
d. Meditate on His law by day
and night
a. John 16:7-8 “the Counselor will not come
to you…He will convict …in regard to sin “
Acts 7:51 "stiff-necked people resist the
Holy Spirit”
b. Jeremiah 5:19-20 “repent… restore you …
times of refreshing …may come”
c. Job 24:23 “He may let them rest in a
feeling of security, but His eyes are on
their ways”
Ephesians 5:18 “do not get drunk …filled
with the Spirit”
d. Psalm 119:97 “how I love your law! I
meditate all day long” Ps. 23:6b; Ps. 119:11
Q#2
Analysis Matrix – Letter XII
Lukewarm Behavior
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Prayer Life
a. Unreal, distracted
b. Avoid Contact with God
a. Practical
b. Pray continually…
-Keep watch…
a. Philippians 4:6 “in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God”
b. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray
continually” Luke 18:1 “always pray and
not give up”
Mt. 25:13 “Therefore keep watch”
Pleasures
Decisions
Activities
a. habit renders …less pleasant
and harder to forgo
- waste his time/boredom
- do nothing/staring
a. seek the Lord
-develop spiritual habits
diligently
-all is permissible
-Be pure
- use time wisely
- sharing your faith
b. "without whom nothing is
strong".(Book of Common Prayer;
The Lessons Appointed for Use
on the Sunday closest to July 27,
Year B)[1]
-be faithful unto death
a. Hosea 10:12 “it is time to seek the
LORD”
1 Corinthians 7:29 “time is short” Phil.
1:6 Confidently
I Co. 6:12 “Everything is permissible for
me” Ph. 4:8 be pure!
Proverbs 12:24 “Diligent hands will rule,
but laziness”
1 Timothy 4:15 “Be diligent”
b. Psalm 114 “Tremble, O earth, at the
presence of the Lord”
Mark 6:45-52 (Jesus walking on the sea)
“They were utterly astounded”
Rev. 2:10 “Be faithful, even to the point
of death”
b. avoid healthy/outgoing …
give nothing in return
"I now see that I spent most of
my life in doing neither what I
ought nor what I liked"
- Nothing is very strong
Questions for Discussion - Letter XII
1. Are the simple choices we make on a daily basis really trivial and
revocable? Can you give some examples of an apparently simple
choice that ended up causing major life changing consequences?
2. How can church going habits be good or bad?
3. What is this “dim uneasiness” that Screwtape talks about?
4. How can we work diligently to keep a health prayer life?
5. How should we choose our friends and amusements? Describe the
steps from “choice of friends” (a apparently small unimportant
decision) to the “cold dark and utmost place”
6. Have you ever felt that “increased reluctance to think about “ things of
God? And what sort of distractions affect your devotional life?
7. How cumulative are small sins? And how to prevent them to slowly
and gently taking one into the safest road to Hell?
Letter XII
Resistance Strategy
Virtues and Stock Responses to Cultivate (PostModern Context)
Resistance Strategy
Virtues and Stock Responses to Cultivate (Post-Modern Context)
Honesty
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Nature and Possibilities of Choices
‘Milton was right,’ said the Teacher. ‘The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the
words “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” There is always something they insist on
keeping even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy – that is to
reality. You see it enough in a spoiled child that would sooner miss its play and its supper
than say it was sorry and be friends.
Every day we are - - - - -becoming or helping others to become Hellish or Heavenly creatures
For Every Choice One Makes
(In Any Human Activity)
Does Not Conform to BGP
Leads to Hell
Conforms to BGP
Which Way?
Uncertain
Two Possible Directions
BGP = Beautiful, Good and Permanent
Leads to Heaven
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
If we go to God’s Word, we find the story of Lot for example (Genesis 12:4) Lot , the lucky
one, chosen out of all his cousins to follow along with his uncle Abram to the promised land.
What an honor it must have been! (Apparently, it seems that he was thinking he was doing
his uncle a great favor, instead of being a partaker via Abraham of God’s blessing!) They
traveled together, uncle and nephew. I imagine the two, as the leaders of their clan, at dusk
watching the setting sun. Waiting for their evening meal to be brought before them,
discussing next day’s administrative issues. (Genesis 13:5) They would be discussing what
direction to take: Abraham as their elder and the one hearing God’s voice, drawing the
outlines of travel and its organization in the sand. There was a lot to manage…
They must also have been discussing their riches: sheep, camels, goats… So many where
born, how are we dividing them? Can we cross that brook? Who is going to dig that well?
Your men or mine? How do we resolve the fights? (consequences of God’s abundant
blessings!) (Genesis 13:7) Then, one night, Abraham calls Lot for a walk to a mountaintop.
They look out over a vast valley, two cities in the distance. Abraham says: (Genesis 13:8) We
are growing too big, we need to take our separate ways, so we can survive in peace… You
choose and I will take what is left.
What did Lot reply? Had he not learned to respect the elder? Had his mother not taught him
to say, “You choose first uncle, then I will follow suit”? (Remember, in that culture respect
for age was of utmost importance) Instead, he looked at the possibility of trading a tent for a
brick house. (Genesis 13:10) Exchange wilderness for civilization. Furthermore, he would be
able to find educated husbands for his daughters instead of a shepherd’s boys… (Genesis
13:11) Consequently, the two men parted company. (Genesis 13:12) Trivial choices, small
virtuosities missed, little details that grew and lead to huge consequences; never suspecting
that he is now, however slowly, was heading away from God’s blessings right into the cold
and dark desolation of despair. Could it be that the fights between their men were already a
reflection of Lot’s disrespect for Abraham?
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
God’s blessings arrogantly or maybe it should say “ever so softly” disregarded and
exchanged for luxuries. Even so, God cares. Nevertheless, a “stiff-necked” Lot (Acts 7:51)
does not learn lesson, and the pattern is continued to the point that when the angels come
to save him before the final destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he does not want to
leave. (Genesis 19:12) “Get them out of here” was the order. But Lot, Lot would not be able
to get all his finances in order, the future son-in-laws did not want to come along. (Genesis
19:14) They “thought he was joking”. (Genesis 19:15) Then, with the coming of dawn, the
angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or
you will be swept away when the city is punished." (Genesis 19:18) And his wife? Oh… his
wife does not seems to be one hair better than Lot himself; she probably thought, as all
housewives, “there is so much I would like to take along” I do not want to go, she looks
back … (Genesis 19:26) turning into a pillar of salt.
A pillar of salt? Do we really want to be a signpost for others? How can we be virtuous, if
we, in the small things do not develop virtuosity? What sadness are the consequences of
small, trivial revocable choices… In the final paragraph of the story of Lot’s life, we see a
defeated, disillusioned, drunken father-grandfather. (Genesis 19:30) Living in a cave, an
outcast (Genesis 19:36) lead to final, desperate survival attempts. Far from God’s
blessings, he is unhappy, robbed of his chastity by his own daughters, ashamed even to
meet his family. Even so, God is a magnanimous judge. When the descendants of
Abraham, the Israelites, return from Egypt, they are forbidden to harass Lot’s descendants.
(Deuteronomy 2:9) Furthermore in 2 Peter 2:7-8 It is mentioned: “if He rescued Lot, a
righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous
man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless
deeds he saw and heard) - if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from
trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. And as such, the warning
sounds: “Remember Lot's wife!” (Luke 17:32) Let us pray that we will be able to be faithful
in the small choices! May Jesus say to us when we meet Him:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things.
Come and share your master's joy!”
Matthew 25:21
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices
Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
library.thinkquest.org
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
If we go to God’s Word, we find the story of Lot for example
(Genesis 12:4) Lot , the lucky one, chosen out of all his cousins to
follow along with his uncle Abram to the promised land. What an
honor it must have been! (Apparently, it seems that he was
thinking he was doing his uncle a great favor, instead of being a
partaker via Abraham of God’s blessing!) They traveled together,
uncle and nephew. I imagine the two, as the leaders of their clan,
at dusk watching the setting sun. Waiting for their evening meal to
be brought before them, discussing next day’s administrative
issues. (Genesis 13:5) They would be discussing what direction to
take: Abraham as their elder and the one hearing God’s voice,
drawing the outlines of travel and its organization in the sand.
There was a lot to manage…
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
They must also have been discussing their riches: sheep, camels,
goats… So many where born, how are we dividing them? Can we
cross that brook? Who is going to dig that well? Your men or
mine? How do we resolve the fights? (consequences of God’s
abundant blessings!) (Genesis 13:7) Then, one night, Abraham
calls Lot for a walk to a mountaintop. They look out over a vast
valley, two cities in the distance. Abraham says: (Genesis 13:8) We
are growing too big, we need to take our separate ways, so we can
survive in peace… You choose and I will take what is left.
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
What did Lot reply? Had he not learned to respect the elder? Had his
mother not taught him to say, “You choose first uncle, then I will follow
suit”? (Remember, in that culture respect for age was of utmost
importance) Instead, he looked at the possibility of trading a tent for a
brick house. (Genesis 13:10) Exchange wilderness for civilization.
Furthermore, he would be able to find educated husbands for his
daughters instead of a shepherd’s boys… (Genesis 13:11) Consequently,
the two men parted company. (Genesis 13:12) Trivial choices, small
virtuosities missed, little details that grew and lead to huge
consequences; never suspecting that he is now, however slowly, was
heading away from God’s blessings right into the cold and dark desolation
of despair. Could it be that the fights between their men were already a
reflection of Lot’s disrespect for Abraham?
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
God’s blessings arrogantly or maybe it should say “ever so softly” disregarded
and exchanged for luxuries. Even so, God cares. Nevertheless, a “stiff-necked”
Lot (Acts 7:51) does not learn lesson, and the pattern is continued to the point
that when the angels come to save him before the final destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah, he does not want to leave. (Genesis 19:12) “Get them out of
here” was the order. But Lot, Lot would not be able to get all his finances in
order, the future son-in-laws did not want to come along. (Genesis 19:14) They
“thought he was joking”. (Genesis 19:15) Then, with the coming of dawn, the
angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who
are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." (Genesis 19:18)
And his wife? Oh… his wife does not seems to be one hair better than Lot
himself; she probably thought, as all housewives, “there is so much I would
like to take along” I do not want to go, she looks back … (Genesis 19:26)
turning into a pillar of salt.
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
A pillar of salt? Do we really want to be a signpost for others? How can we be
virtuous, if we, in the small things do not develop virtuosity? What sadness are
the consequences of small, trivial revocable choices… In the final paragraph of
the story of Lot’s life, we see a defeated, disillusioned, drunken fathergrandfather. (Genesis 19:30) Living in a cave, an outcast (Genesis 19:36) lead
to final, desperate survival attempts. Far from God’s blessings, he is unhappy,
robbed of his chastity by his own daughters, ashamed even to meet his family.
Even so, God is a magnanimous judge. When the descendants of Abraham, the
Israelites, return from Egypt, they are forbidden to harass Lot’s descendants.
(Deuteronomy 2:9) Furthermore in 2 Peter 2:7-8 It is mentioned: “if He rescued
Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for
that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his
righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) - if this is so, then the
Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous
for the day of judgment. And as such, the warning sounds: “Remember Lot's
wife!” (Luke 17:32)
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
The Danger of Small Choices – Disastrous
Consequences
A Biblical Object Lesson
Let us pray that we will be able to be faithful in the small choices!
May Jesus say to us when we meet Him:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with
a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's joy!”
Matthew 25:21
Letter XII
For Further Reflections
A Practical Warning and consolation from Spurgeon’s archives:
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2447.htm
"God, and Not Man,"—What Does It Mean? A Sermon, (No. 2447), Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day,
January 12th, 1896, Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, March 17th, 1889. (Portions of)
"I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man."—Hosea 11:9.
Next, if we had to deal, not with God, but with our fellow-men, we should very often find that, WHEN MEN
GET INTO A LOW, NERVOUS, SENSITIVE STATE THEMSELVES, THEY ARE USUALLY QUITE
UNABLE TO BEAR WITH OTHERS. A person's temper often depends a great deal upon the state of
his health. If a man is perfectly well, sound in mind and body, he can put up with a good deal; but there
are times when the head aches, or when the tooth aches, or when the heart aches, or when there is an
overpowering sense of nervousness upon you, and then you know what a very little thing will put you
out. "Oh, take that child away!" you cry, petulantly, "I cannot bear its noise." That ring at the bell has
startled you, that cry of the costermonger in the street has quite irritated you, and now you are in a very
fit state of mind to act the part of a tyrant. One who was discussing a certain trial said, "I wonder what
the jurymen are having for breakfast this morning, for their food will have a good deal to do with the
verdict they will give;" and, no doubt, unless a person is himself pretty well, and in a good mental and
spiritual condition, his weakness or his sensitiveness will make him deal severely with others even for a
very small offense. What a mercy it is that the One with whom we have to deal is "God and not man"!
Our glorious Jehovah is never weak, impetuous, unjust, ungenerous. He is always magnanimous, kind,
gracious, forbearing. He is never in such a condition that he feels ready to be irritated with his
creatures; but, self-contained and self-possessed, dwelling in the eternal sublimities of his own
unsullied happiness, the God over all, blessed for ever, he is in that state of mind—if I may so speak of
him after the manner of men,—that he is willing to pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin, he is a God
ready to pardon, waiting to forgive the guilty. Could you truly know him, and see how free he is from
those human frailties which lie at the roots of all irritability, and unwillingness to forgive offenders, you
would understand what a mercy it is that he is "God, and not man." Come, poor soul, approach thy
God; thou hast not to come before an angry judge, thou hast not to approach an austere person who is
ready to take offense even at little things; but thou art coming to the infinitely-blessed God, who
delighteth not in the death of any, but would rather that they should turn unto him and live.