C.S. "Jack" Lewis

I'm listening to Mere Christianity for my Apologetics class that starts in just a few days. It's pretty incredible and I'm completely ashamed that I made it to 30 before being exposed to Lewis' simplicity in explaining Christianity. It's interesting to be reading this while the world waits for the release of Prince Caspian, the second feature film in the "Narnia" series. Not only are people talking about the movie, but Christian radio is also spending time revisiting Lewis and his works. Just this morning I heard Douglas Gresham on "Focus on the Family". He is Lewis' stepson, the son of Lewis' wife who was portrayed in the movie Shadowlands. Well, it was really neat to hear the story of how he was connected to Lewis on the radio. What's probably neater is that he is a co-producer on Prince Caspian and he has this awesome opportunity to re-invigorate the world's love for the Narnia series and more importantly the message of hope it contains.

Anyway, he quoted "Jack" (Lewis' go-by) as saying, “We do not need more people writing Christian books, what we need is more Christians writing good books.” It reminded me of Andrew Peterson, another artist that follows this mantra. It's a refreshing thing to know that Christ did not call everyone to end their careers to follow Him. Rather, He wanted us to follow Him with the talents we've already been blessed with. If we're waiting for Him to take us out of our jobs to be "used" in the "mission field" or to become a "pastor" or "minister" than we'll be waiting a long time! But if we begin day by day to be a pastor and a minister to our co-workers and be used in our jobs as our primary mission field, we'll see that we don't have to go far to answer His call. That's not to say we need to be Bible-thumping evangelists to the folks in the neighboring cubes, but it does mean we should learn how to love them like we love ourselves. We show love to ourselves by being disappointed and being self-nurturing in the tough times. We also loves ourselves by rejoicing in the high times of life. We can do the same for our co-workers. Sharing in someone's sorrow and offering encouragement during their time of need is so much more valuable than telling them that they'll be fine if they go to church with us. Rejoicing with them during their triumphs let's them know that we're not so self-centered that we can't honor them from time to time.

So, don't wait for the phone to ring - God's call came a long time ago and some of us didn't recognize it. We can be Christians in the secular workplace doing good; we don't have to wait to be put in a "Christian" job.

God Bless!
David