The Weight of Reality
Justin Jones / Spiritual Formation, Singles and Prayer Ministry Pastor
“Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as for inducing them. And you and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years. Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent, inner voice; almost all our modem philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth.”
“Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as for inducing them. And you and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years. Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent, inner voice; almost all our modem philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth.”
~C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”
We decided to start reading the “Chronicles to Narnia” to our son Judah at nighttime before bed. We have gotten through the first two books and are moving onto the third this week. It has been interesting to read these books again. Lewis has a powerful way of using fictional characters and stories to express some of the most real and weighty ideas we can express. And in reading them and watching the world right now, it prompted me to think of the constant need to be reminded of what is real.
That might sound strange, like I am going crazy. But in reality, it is the world around us that is going crazy. Thoughts, words, actions, media, politics, literature, relationships, communities, and societies. Literally all of these elements and more are fracturing at the seams. If you look at these things with an eye seeking God’s perspective, you can see the Scriptures are being lived out in front of us:
Now, I am not wanting to write another doomsday, apocalyptic kind of post that has no hope. If anything, I am more excited about the opportunities in this time for the church than at other time in history, because the darkness is so great.
But, at the same time, I have been reminded of the need to understand the weight of reality. We wonder why we are so fragile, why we are so weak in the face of trial and temptation. It is because we have been formed in a world that has intentionally taught us to avoid reality. As the Lewis quote above says, “Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent inner voice; almost all our modern philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth.” We, as a society, have been trained and formed to trust in ourselves, to avoid the realities of sin and evil and hell, and to silence the voice of God speaking to us. As a result, we avoid the weight of reality by any means possible: by numbing it out with media or food or a hobby, by silencing voices of Truth in our lives, by keeping ourselves busy, by believing and using trite statements or baseless principles, by making excuses and becoming a victim. But where does this get any of us?
We, as the church, must ask the Lord to never let us forget the weight of reality. We must ask for “eyes to see and ears to hear.” We must stop investing any energy into copying culture or trying to reproduce what we see playing out. All it will produce is the same result. Instead, each one of us must spend our entire energy in pursuing Jesus in all aspects of our lives. The only way to truly experience the weight of reality and break free from the “matrix” of self is to surrender everything to Jesus.
This has been my desire as I have written three books over the past several years: ENGAGE, REBOOT, and SEED LIFE. My hope was to simply be a voice calling us back to the TRUE reality of who God is and who we are. And I have found that even after writing these books, I can sometimes get distracted from the weight of reality myself.
My prayer for myself, for our church, and for the world is that we would break free from the magical curse that is over us (as the Lewis quote says above) so that every person can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and experience the true reality of the Kingdom.
We decided to start reading the “Chronicles to Narnia” to our son Judah at nighttime before bed. We have gotten through the first two books and are moving onto the third this week. It has been interesting to read these books again. Lewis has a powerful way of using fictional characters and stories to express some of the most real and weighty ideas we can express. And in reading them and watching the world right now, it prompted me to think of the constant need to be reminded of what is real.
That might sound strange, like I am going crazy. But in reality, it is the world around us that is going crazy. Thoughts, words, actions, media, politics, literature, relationships, communities, and societies. Literally all of these elements and more are fracturing at the seams. If you look at these things with an eye seeking God’s perspective, you can see the Scriptures are being lived out in front of us:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Now, I am not wanting to write another doomsday, apocalyptic kind of post that has no hope. If anything, I am more excited about the opportunities in this time for the church than at other time in history, because the darkness is so great.
But, at the same time, I have been reminded of the need to understand the weight of reality. We wonder why we are so fragile, why we are so weak in the face of trial and temptation. It is because we have been formed in a world that has intentionally taught us to avoid reality. As the Lewis quote above says, “Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent inner voice; almost all our modern philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth.” We, as a society, have been trained and formed to trust in ourselves, to avoid the realities of sin and evil and hell, and to silence the voice of God speaking to us. As a result, we avoid the weight of reality by any means possible: by numbing it out with media or food or a hobby, by silencing voices of Truth in our lives, by keeping ourselves busy, by believing and using trite statements or baseless principles, by making excuses and becoming a victim. But where does this get any of us?
We, as the church, must ask the Lord to never let us forget the weight of reality. We must ask for “eyes to see and ears to hear.” We must stop investing any energy into copying culture or trying to reproduce what we see playing out. All it will produce is the same result. Instead, each one of us must spend our entire energy in pursuing Jesus in all aspects of our lives. The only way to truly experience the weight of reality and break free from the “matrix” of self is to surrender everything to Jesus.
This has been my desire as I have written three books over the past several years: ENGAGE, REBOOT, and SEED LIFE. My hope was to simply be a voice calling us back to the TRUE reality of who God is and who we are. And I have found that even after writing these books, I can sometimes get distracted from the weight of reality myself.
My prayer for myself, for our church, and for the world is that we would break free from the magical curse that is over us (as the Lewis quote says above) so that every person can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and experience the true reality of the Kingdom.