Which Are We?

Good stuff from Ray Ortlund Jr., lead pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, TN

In his brief article, "Three Kinds of Men," C. S. Lewis explains that the world is not divided into good people and bad people but into three categories of people. "The first class is of those who live simply for their own sake and pleasure, regarding Man and Nature as so much raw material to be cut up into whatever shape may serve them." Some people are happy-go-lucky unbelievers, busy with self-gratification.

Lewis continued: "In the second class are those who acknowledge some other claim upon them – the will of God . . . or the good of society – and honestly try to pursue their own interests no further than this claim will allow." These are people with a sense of God, even a sense of Jesus. Their consciences are somewhat awake. They know they should do right. But "doing right" divides their lives up like a schoolboy's life – time "in school" when they have to do what the teacher says, and time "out of school" when they can do what they want. For them, going to church is like paying a tax to God. When they feel they have paid that tax, and thus obligated God to improve their lives, they feel diminished by having to deal with him at all. But when they fail to pay the God-tax, they feel guilty and fearful that he might punish them. They may smile some, but their hearts have never known real joy.

Lewis concluded: "But the third class is of those who can say like St. Paul that for them 'to live is Christ.'" These folks have gotten beyond the tiresome calculations that divide life up between the claims of Christ and the claims of Self. They have rejected Self, in order to embrace Christ. "The will of Christ no longer limits theirs; it is theirs," Lewis wrote. This third way, and this alone, is Christianity: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44). "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8).

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Birmingham is filled to the brim with people in Lewis’ first two categories. There are non-believers and then there are people who pay their “God tax” as Ortlund puts it.

Obviously, revival fire, the kind which gives birth to a movement that sweeps through cities and regions, the kind which transforms individuals, families and entire communities, the kind which we see evidence of in Acts, will never begin from this first group. But neither should we expect it to be birthed out of this second group. Our pews are filled with too many people playing at religion, when what we need are people who, through a relationship with Jesus, are so enflamed by the gospel of God’s grace that they can do nothing but pursue the agenda He has set, which is radical heart renewal leading to kingdom expansion to the ends of the earth.

If Lewis is correct, then we must place ourselves on this spectrum. Where are we?

Repent – Believe - Fight