“Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one\u2019s first feeling, `Thank God, even they aren\u2019t quite so bad as that,\u2019 or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything – God and our friends and ourselves included – as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a time when people across the political spectrum seem more interested in believing evil about their enemies than discovering what is true, this certainly has a great deal of resonance! So far as it goes (and it may go further in the book, which I neither own nor have read), I think Lewis\u2019s analysis is astute. Indeed, Christians must beware of the corrupting power of hatred!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/angry-rabbit-holding-carrot-figurine-300x195.jpg\")
However, we also ought to press the inquiry forward another step. It is not enough to identify hatred and contempt for our enemies as seductive. We must ask why it should be so.<\/p>\n
The answer, I think, is one of comparison. The more vile our enemies are (or we make them out to be), the more brightly we and our friends shine. Next to the manure pile, even the soiled garment appears clean. The lesser of two evils often comes to resemble a positive good.<\/p>\n
The benefits of adopting such a stance are manifold. We no longer have to subject those who are on \u201cour side\u201d to searching moral inquiry because, well, look at the other guy!<\/p>\n
Most especially, we no longer have to subject ourselves to searching moral inquiry. Our enemies, rather than the word of God, have become our standard for self-evaluation. In comparison to the picture we paint of them, we have no flaws worth mentioning. There is nothing we need to change; instead, we can bask in our own self-righteousness.<\/p>\n
Of course, when the hearts of God\u2019s people are given over to hatred and self-righteousness, the devil has won completely. We have no justification for maximizing the difference between ourselves and our enemies. We too once were deceived, enslaved, hateful, and hating one another. Rather than contempt, we must respond with recognition, sympathy, and pity.<\/p>\n
The difference between us and anybody else is not our inherent goodness. It is that we have known the light of the grace of God, which cleanses and instructs us. If God could love and be merciful to me when I was His enemy, I must love and be merciful to my own enemies.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, humility and self-sacrifice are not as enjoyable as contempt and self-righteousness. However, we have no hope for true righteousness apart from them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, a Facebook friend of mine posted the following quotation from C.S. Lewis\u2019s Mere Christianity, something she apparently does annually. “Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[684,1067,719,126],"class_list":["post-24993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-arrogance","tag-contempt","tag-hatred","tag-pride"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-husband-returned-to-his-first-wife-and-now-im-confused\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":0},"title":"My husband returned to his first wife and now I’m confused","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, I have been separated for over a year from my best friend of over 10 years and my husband for less than a year, though legally we were married for over a year. He had been married once before to a woman who continuously committed adultery with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25277,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-timeline-of-resurrection\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":1},"title":"The Timeline of the Resurrection","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Recently, I've become aware that there is this thing floating around on the Internet called \"The Easter Challenge\". The inventor of this challenge is an atheist. He asserts that the Biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus contradict each other so significantly that they are clearly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG075-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/consulting-mediums\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":2},"title":"Consulting Mediums","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sam Stinson \"When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?\" (Isaiah 8:19) Dear friend, are you a Christian? Many people in the world do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/ouiji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94348,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/more-righteous-than-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":3},"title":"More Righteous Than I","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores In Genesis 38:26, Judah says, \"She [Tamar] is more righteous than I.\" This confession is significant because it marks the beginning of Judah's transformation. He moves from self-protection to repentance. Judah had been living with hidden sin, hypocrisy, and moral compromise. Tamar's boldness exposes him, and instead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-from-south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":4},"title":"Thoughts from South Africa","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hendrik Joubert Sentry Magazine, December 1999 Convenience or Conviction? Recently I have spent much time working on helping brethren understand that as Christians we should change. We should study the Bible to find out what it is that God wants us to be. I have been thinking about some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-point-of-the-story-of-elisha-the-42-youths-and-the-bears\/","url_meta":{"origin":24993,"position":5},"title":"What is the point of the story of Elisha, the 42 youths, and the bears?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do not quite understand the story in II Kings 2:23-25. What is the point there? Is it okay for a prophet to curse somebody in the name of the Lord? How about other believers of God? Can they curse somebody in the name of the Lord? According to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}