How to be a Christian

‘How to be a Christian’ is a compilation of C.S. Lewis’s works on the aforementioned topic. It contains practical advice on how to live as a Christian. Except for the Chronicles of Narnia, I find most of his works a harder read and ‘How to be a Christian’ was no exception. But despite the difficulty in reading, I find it worth it. I have found this book a harder read than some of his other non-fiction titles but the difficulty wasn’t in the words, it was in the conviction and the common sense of the things he said.

Hearing what you already know but haven’t applied to your life will do that. I am grateful for it, because without the conviction how would I know I need to change?

Sometimes a reminder does far more than new information.

Conviction aside ‘How to be a Christian’ is a good read for anyone who wants practical advice on how to improve their Christian life from new converts to more experienced Christians.

You may be wondering what exactly this book this book convicted me on and it is not an easy answer because there were many things but I’ll try and keep it brief.

In the mere opening chapter, I was convicted of my faith, of what faith is and how we are supposed to put it into action. Sometimes I forget that faith is more than just belief in God, well it is that but real faith spurs us into action. Sometimes I sit and wait for God to make things happen without putting in any effort myself, that’s just asking for miracles. How can we expect fruit to be produced without doing our part in it? Fruit doesn’t come unless the seeds are planted.

“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
James 2:24

Also, while God cares about our actions, they are of less significance overall than simply being who He created us to be. We were supposed to be sinless, pure creatures but we aren’t and can’t be until we are transformed, and even that won’t happen in its entirety until it’s time to go to heaven.

It is out of faith that good actions inevitably come.

There is this view that salvation causes immediate and lasting change which transforms lives in a miraculous fashion. For some, this might be the case but for most, it’s not likely. Yes the desire to change and make sacrifices in God’s name will be there but sin doesn’t miraculously disappear most of the time, usually it’s at this time it grows stronger trying to steal us away from God and back into worldly habits.

With Christ, we find new reasons for some of the things we always did and most of us continue to live mundane lives. Just because Christ is in us doesn’t mean we are all going to lead spectacular lives, in fact reading this section of the book I was hit with this feeling that it is actually through the mundane things in life that God uses us to reach more people. It’ll make me think twice the next time I want to complain about something being boring or useless.

God makes no appetite in vain.

We all have different dreams and desires, some of us may have to desire to be in the spotlight while others would rather be in the background helping someone to achieve their dreams. Some dreams we have are selfish, others are sinful but it’s not those dreams and desires that I’m talking about here. The ones I’m talking about are your God-given dreams and desires, most likely you’ve had them for as long as you can remember.

If you aren’t sure if God has given you any, I can assure you that He has, you just may not recognise them for what they are. If you know what God wants you to do, then it is likely that your dreams may fit in with this. It’s a good sign that it’s from God if it aligns with His plans for you. And always pray about it, pray for clarity over which dreams and desires are from Him, pray for discernment so that you can be sure.

It was good to be reminded that God will always fulfil what He has promised so we can hold onto that promise with hope that it will be. We can trust in His timing knowing His timing is perfect.

But we must also be careful not to make idols out of things we desire. We must make sure that God is the focus of our desires, and that the things we desire will ultimately glorify Him.

One chapter which I loved was on the end of the world and there was some good advice in there on how to live while anticipating it. It felt appropriate too because there has been a lot of talk about it recently. There’s also a little comfort in knowing that even back then it was a controversial but popular topic. If I had only read this chapter it would have been worth buying this book.

The end is inevitable, there is no denying this truth, sometimes we hope for it to come soon and the next we fear it. But the most important thing we can do is prepare for it and we prepare for it by keeping God at the centre of everything we do and being obedient to Him in all things. We prepare by playing the role God has assigned us to the best of our ability and trying to plant the seeds of salvation in the hearts of as many people as we can not wanting any to end up separated from God.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9

C.S. Lewis advises taking the anticipated end into account at all times regardless of whether it occurs in our lifetime. And that advice appears in scripture too in James 4:15.

“Instead, you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:15

We should commit all our plans to the Lord, and surrender them at His feet so as not to sin in arrogance by assuming that the future is promised. We truly do not know the day or the hour so we must live as if it could be anytime. I think we’re all guilty of taking time for granted because it does feel like an illusion sometimes.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Matthew 24:36

I was convicted reading about forgiveness. I was reminded that the Bible says if we don’t forgive others then we won’t be forgiven ourselves. It hit hard but not as hard as reading that we might be asking for forgiveness wrong which I didn’t think was possible. Sometimes we try and excuse the sin rather than asking for forgiveness which we shouldn’t be doing. Also, when it comes to forgiving others we may think we’re forgiving them when we’ve just excused them.

Forgiveness is to consider the sin absolved out of love. But worse when we refuse forgiveness it means we are refusing God’s mercy which is a crazy thing to do.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean excusing.

It can be difficult to forgive others because we naturally judge people. We judge based on first impressions or on what we’ve heard about them from other people, the media, etc. It makes comparison so easy too. It’s not good for us to compare ourselves to others, everyone is living a unique life, their life, we need to focus on living our own it has enough struggles. C.S. Lewis wrote a bit on comparison and advised us to stop thinking about the faults of others.

God loves us despite our flaws and we ought to love others despite theirs. The only flaws we should be concerned with are our own.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5

C.S. Lewis writes quite a bit about love in this book. He writes about loving people without loving their sins and that we should act like we love people even if we don’t because that feeling of love will come with time. He also stated that love in the Christian sense is defined differently from the worldly sense. The world tends to think of romance, friendships or family which are all good things but in the Christian sense love is the desire for someone’s ultimate good. It just put into words something I knew to be true but just couldn’t express.

The most memorable moment however was when he said that love is an act of will. Of course, I knew that it was more than an affectionate feeling because that feeling doesn’t last but when he said it, well it truly hit home.

C.S. Lewis writes a bit more on the topic of faith specifically on doubts surrounding faith. It’s only natural for our faith to waver occasionally and the thing is it signals a source of conflict within us. This conflict is not between faith and reason but faith and sight, an attack of imagination and the senses according to Lewis.

We aren’t supposed to walk based on sight yet that’s what is ingrained in us to do, we’re supposed to walk by faith but when things get shaky we automatically jump to sight and say well logically it’s not the right thing to do because it’s risky. But faith is all about risk, it’s about taking that leap trusting that God will let us land safely and if He doesn’t He will help pick us back up again.

Lewis advised if we want to be rational all the time then we must pray for the gift of faith so that even in the most extreme circumstances, when we feel our strongest emotions that we will still be able to stand in faith.

“For we live by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7

The book is titled ‘How to be a Christian’ but what does it mean to be a Christian? This last section will elaborate on with nuggets of C.S. Lewis’s advice and reflections.

He says, “A Christian is not a man who never goes wrong but one who picks himself up”, and how true that is. I think there is a common perception among unbelievers that Christians think they’re perfect which is completely false. I don’t think this belief is helped by the fact that some Christians act as if they are superior to those who aren’t believers, and this arrogance is steering people away from God. Christians are human and make mistakes just like everyone, the difference is God works within us to purify us as we recognise and repent of our imperfections.

A Christian is someone who believes that the good they do comes from God. Now most people will agree that doing good is admirable and something that we should all do more often, it is something society tries to instil in us from a young age. But the truth is that while anyone can do good, it is God in us that allows us to do so because God is good personified, and it’s only because of Him that we can distinguish what is good. That is why when I read this I was reminded that we don’t often do as much good as we ought, we know we should but sometimes we let opportunities pass us by to do good that we later regret.

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”
Galatians 6:9-10

As Christians, we are supposed to reject the identity we once had and replace it with a God-given identity. So where we once identified as weak, we now identify as strong because of God. And the self no longer exists with God, because we are to live for Him and our desires have been replaced by His, although sometimes they will be similar. With the self and identity now belonging to God, we know that how we feel in the flesh can be deceiving and we must release our feelings to God, surrender and reject the ones that are of the flesh like lust or envy.

Every single act, feeling or experience, pleasant or not, must be referred to God.

We should no longer fear time the way we used to. We know that God has a plan, and for each of there is a purpose. We don’t need to fear the end as we used to or be afraid that time is running out because our hope and salvation are in the one who controls time and we have faith in the fact that we won’t leave this earth until our purpose is complete.

To be a Christian doesn’t mean living a lonely life, on the contrary, the Bible tells us that while it is important to have our alone time with God we should live in community with other Christians. A community that encourages and supports each other, and prays for each other.

I’ll finish up this post with this final nugget from C.S. Lewis on Glory. Glory can mean to shine, just as we want to shine for God so the world can see His goodness through us. But it is more than that it is acceptance. When we desire glory, it means we want to be known by God, to be welcomed and acknowledged, and to feel like we belong. At the end of days, we want Him to say to us “Well done, my good and faithful servant”, we dread the thought of Him turning away and saying, “Depart I never knew you.”

‘How to be a Christian’ was challenging and encouraging at the same time, I am glad I read it and thankful for the wisdom God bestowed upon C.S. Lewis. He was definitely one of the great modern thinkers and I look forward to reading more of his books.

Let me know what book you’re currently reading in the comments. Or if you have any recommendations send them my way.