CS Lewis 1/18-19: Because At Some Point You Have To Stop Singing "Kumbaya" And Pick Up A Map (MC)

People often say they believe in God, but not religion. They feel that God exists, and often sense a divine Presence in the mystery of the cosmos, or the awe-inspiring vista of a sunset over the mountains - but any doctrine taught in a church feels like a sham. After all, God is raw power, untamed, unlimited! So by comparison, "religion" feels cheap and unreal.

In a sense these people are right; turning from God to a theology that describes God IS trading down, so to speak. Once you've glimpsed the magnificence of the Atlantic ocean from the beach, looking at a map of the same ocean will be completely underwhelming.

But consider this: That map of the Atlantic is based on the experiences of hundreds of people who sailed the actual ocean - experiences just as real as yours from the beach. But where your experience was a single moment, the map fits together hundreds and thousands of moments of first-hand knowledge. Not to dictate pointless rules, not to brag, but to form a guide that helps travelers find their way.

As long as you're content with occasional glimpses of the ocean from the beach, you don't need such a guide. But if you want to get somewhere, if you want to venture into those vast and powerful waters to experience them for yourself? Well, then you're going to need a map.

Religion is like that map. Of course learning theology feels less real and exciting than the actual experience of God, but it, too, is based on the experiences of hundreds of people - experiences that would put our own pious feelings to shame. So if you want to get anywhere, if you want to progress in your relationship with God, then you need a map. The trouble - and appeal - of a vague religion that looks for God in music and sunsets is that it doesn't lead anywhere. Nothing comes of it. It's a momentarily thrill that demands nothing more, like looking at the ocean from the beach. But you won't get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you won't get eternal life by looking for God in music and sunsets.

Suggested Reading: Matt 4:1-4, Romans 15:4-6


Study Questions:

1) Have you ever had someone tell you they believed in God, but not religion? If so, what reasons did they give?

2) How would you respond to that statement now?

3) Do you want to get further with God? If so, how do you imagine a "map" might help you? What are you looking for?


Original Text: "Just a Bit of Coloured Paper?"

I remember once when I had been giving a talk to the R.A.F., an old, hard-bitten officer got up and said, "I've no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I'm a religious man too. I know there's a God. I've felt Him: out alone in the desert at night: the tremendous mystery. And that's just why I don't believe all your neat little dogmas and formulas about Him. To anyone who's met the real thing they all seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!"

Now in a sense I quite agreed with that man. I think he had probably had a real experience of God in the desert. And when he turned from that experience to the Christian creeds, I think he really was turning from something real to something less real. In the same way, if a man has once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of coloured paper. But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only coloured paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map. But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.

- Mere Christianity

Original Text continued: "Traveling Without a Map"

Now, Theology is like the map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experiences of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God - experiences compared with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see, what happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting, but nothing comes of it. It leads nowhere. There is nothing to do about it. In fact, that is just why a vague religion - all about feeling God in nature, and so on - is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work: like watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to sea without a map.