“All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged.”
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
“Acedia is a paralysis of the soul, a slackness of the mind, a neglect of religious exercises, a hostility to vows taken. … It is … a stubborn urge for service, a dedication to the work of the hands, an indifference to the requirement of obedience.”
St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (Western Classics edition), p. 162
As Christians, we are to have a balanced life: love God, love your neighbor. But, anytime there is an option between two things, you will have people who will go to one extreme or another. We have an example of loving God but neglecting the neighbor when we speak of a person who is so “Heavenly minded that he is no Earthly good.”
Both St. John Climacus and C.S. Lewis, however, warn of the other, more common, imbalance. And, that is the person who forgets about God because of an unbalanced love of neighbor. This is the person who may go to worship because it is the right thing to do, but St. John Climacus says that this person is found yawning early in the worship. They may or may not go to non-Sunday church worship or study, but mainly because it is their duty.
In an extreme case, this is the Christian who rarely goes to church, but is convinced of their Christianity based on their practical love of their neighbor. Many times, they may have laudable service lives. They may become examples of the love the neighbor, convincing many to be involved with them. In many ways, their lives may be exemplary. Nevertheless, we need to have a saying that goes something like being so Earthly minded that he is no Heavenly good.
C.S. Lewis gives us a very strong warning in his The Screwtape Letters. For those who have never read the book, it portrays an imaginary conversation between a senior demon and a junior demon. The senior demon continually advises his junior as to how to keep someone from being connected to God. The quote at the beginning of this post is part of the advice that the senior demon gave the junior. In that book, The Enemy is God. Thus the senior demon is counseling the junior one to get “his human” involved in cause in an extreme fashion, provided he keeps “his human” from being involved extremely in God.
There is nothing wrong with being strongly involved in any of various causes whose purpose is to help our neighbor. As mentioned before, it is laudable. However, the danger is that of losing contact with God to the point that one starts to become bored with the “tedium” of the loving God part of the Christian life. St. John Climacus points out that prayer becomes boring, yawns abound during the service, and sleepiness descends only when praying. I would add that this has set in when we find any excuse in order to go to another meeting, raise yet more money, become involved with more individuals, particularly when this makes it possible to avoid God.
The person who is so Heavenly minded that he is no Earthly good is more rare nowadays. But, that is the person who is always talking about going to church yet never seems to talk about others. They speak only of the latest book by the latest Christian author. They speak of the blessings of the latest song taught by the worship group. If liturgical, they rave over the last Liturgy, in which they were truly inspired. Yet, their behavior toward the neighbor may be either non-existent or even sinful.
This person is the store owner who mistreats his or her employees. This is the person whose road rage is legendary. This is the person who while proclaiming to be pro-life never gives to the poor because they are responsible for their own condition. Nowadays, the person who speaks of God constantly but fully misbehaves toward their neighbor is a less common imbalance.
As with all sins or extremes, the solution begins with repentance and humility. It is not only the acknowledging of your sins in this area, but also the softness of heart that drives you to tears (at least metaphorically). Humility is the willingness to accept the judgment against you without complaint so that you may be saved. Balance in obeying correctly the two greatest commandments comes only through repentance and humility.
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