On Sunday, October 13th my sermon suggested that in the triumphal procession imagery that Paul calls on in II Corinthians 2:14, our place in the procession is as captives, not conquering heroes. We are not placed at the front of the parade with those who fought and won. We are captive. We are captive to the cross and we are to be captivated by Jesus.

 

Along with my Life for Leaders daily devotional email I receive my C.S. Lewis Daily Reading.

 

Today’s Lewis reading struck me as being helpful to further the discussion begun on Sunday.

 

The following is from a collection of Lewis’s writings entitled, Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays.

 

 

Though it is something of an over simplification to suggest that there are only 3 kinds of people in the world, Lewis’s point is clear.

 

I would suggest that most of us are in the second kind of class that Lewis describes.

 

We believe that there is a claim on our lives, whether it is a moral imperative or God or simply societal expectations. At the end of the day we try to do our best to serve our “higher calling”. We behave well enough when we are in school, and nothing like it when we are on holiday.

 

We walk close enough to the edge of not being ‘on parade’ as Lewis describes that, when we remember our commitments, we strike the appropriate pose and get back ‘on parade’. It’s not insincere, at least not to our own minds, but we do play at this life a bit. Not sold out, but bought into. We are stakeholders, but clearly not owners.

 

The third class of person Lewis talks about is the kind that is “captivated by Jesus”.

 

They are no longer adjusting their lives to the audience of co-workers or parents or spouses or church friends or employers or whoever. Instead they are now merely living. The person who is “all in” with Jesus, who is captive and captivated, is not constrained or limited in what they will do or can do or not do.

 

The one for whom “to live is Christ” is simply living their life as they wish! They have been made into a new thing by the one who has turned them around. It begins by facing Jesus and taking him in, completely.

 

Diogenes Allen, former professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote a book some years ago called “The Quest for Jesus”. It was his attempt at a kind of “Mere Christianity” writing. I like it very much. One of the things I remember from the book was his description of conversion. He said that it is not about how you turn to faith. It can be a dramatic turn-around or a thousand tiny steps.

 

What is important, says Allen, is not how you turn, but who you end up facing.

 

For me, it begins by seeing Jesus for all he is, (or as much as I can take in!) And then giving as much as I understand about myself to as much as I can understand about Jesus. This is the beginning of a life where the will of Christ no longer limits my life, because he is my life.

 

Just some thoughts to extend the conversation and hopefully lead to a captivating conclusion for us all.