Halls and Inner Rooms, thoughts from C.S. Lewis Part #2

"When you get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of coarse, even in the hall, you must begin to try to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by it's paint and panelling. In plain language, the question should never be: 'Do I like that kind of service? but 'Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me toward this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper." - Lewis

I suppose we could take this particular paragraph of Lewis and draw many conclusions, all the way from relationships with people to areas of ministry. However, I will try to draw some thoughts out of Lewis on the idea of our commitment to the church. It may not seem like that big of a deal to some of us but for others their view on eternity, mankind, God, and the church are thoughts that take time and special attention. Some people in this world would say that they will walk in the hallway but never enter a room simply because they do not want to. It is safe to say that we could refer to these people as those who do not know the Lord and who would never want to come into any kind of church. However, there are some in the hall that are still trying to figure out what they believe and why they believe it, this we will talk about later on in regard to how we treat those who dwell only in the hallway (one of the rules that is common to the whole house). As for those who will enter into a door but trying to decide which one may be looked at as one who is trying to find a place, congregation, or people of certain thought like their own. In light of this I think Lewis is suggesting that we look at these rooms with an open mind, asking the question, "is this the leading of biblical truth or my own mere feelings and emotions?" I have run into a lot of people that would suggest it is perfectly alright to treat the church like a Friday night hook up and spend all 4 years of college or after college to run around from church to church and not engaging in any real relationships with the body of Christ. In 1 Timothy 3:6 Paul urges Timothy that as an overseer that person must take care of the church just as that person takes care of a household. The point is, is that the church is to be respected and cared for, loved and cherished. It is alright for those to spend some time waiting on the Lord to see which door is the right one for them to open and which room or "body" is the right one for them, but as we discussed earlier the hall is not a place to live in even though it may be a place to wait in. So why discuss this topic? Why talk about hallways and doors and churches and people's thinking? The reason why it is important is because Christ set up the church to be His lighthouse to all the world, and we need to be shown as people who are committed to the rooms and the people inside of the rooms, not just the hallways.

~JP~