Fellowship & Fairydust

Part of an ongoing web serial perhaps inspired by The Screwtape Letters. Unless otherwise noted, “the Ex-CEO” refers to God, “the opposition” to the side of the angels, and so on.

Read the previous installment here.

To: Indignation, Overseer of Ekron Initiative (American Evangelical Division)

Date: [Exact Date Redacted, Circa 2005]

From: Malice, VP of 8th Circle of Hell (Global Initiatives Branch)

Subject: Softening Attitudes Toward Culture

Indignation,

This material you’ve sent me certainly raises a real problem. I must admit I find it hard to believe that you could have allowed something like this to happen. Perhaps you should visit my office soon for a chat. 

In the meantime, this situation can still be salvaged. You have no doubt noticed that in this publication you sent me that promotes “God, life, and progressive culture,”¹ the writers and editors focus on the following:

• Stories about artists who profess to follow the Ex-CEO yet work in society’s mainstream 
• Anecdotes about popular films, music, etc. that reference the opposition’s name or philosophy
• Newsworthy events concerning theologians or writers with new, sometimes dangerous ideas about following their master

There is no question about it. This publication and others like it could undo all we have recently accomplished. Rather than fearing and avoiding culture, the people behind these publications embrace it. They seek to know how their faith connects to topical ideas like the arts, celebrities, and breaking news. 

However, we are not beaten that easily. Given the right nudge here and there, we can mislead this group. Encourage them to embrace celebrities who profess faith no matter how well they follow it. They know, of course, that their master calls them to recognize sin and exhort fellow believers to repent. To countermand this, suggest to them that believing in topics like “grace” or “forgiveness” means that they should really ignore a fellow believer’s sins entirely. You may be able to put them in a place where they even start to justify those actions. 

When they see a popular singer who says he follows Jesus and yet cannot commit to his wife, suggest that the singer’s situation makes his actions excusable. Better yet, insert a little doubt about whether adultery really is such a terrible sin or even a sin in the first place when their sacred text is “correctly interpreted.”

You might also have some success by playing on their anger toward evangelical sub-culture. If they find their favorite Christian leader has gone led astray, encourage thoughts like “Well, I’ll still take this over a fundamentalist” or “I can ignore that as long as they’re avoiding the mistake everyone else is making.”

Doubtless, you see where this strategy leads. Once you’ve convinced a target to sacrifice orthodoxy for relevance, they may as well be in the same trap as their parents. They may try to avoid their parents’ mistakes by going in the opposite direction, but once they’ve gone so far in that direction that they’ve given up things like “sound Biblical thinking,” we’ll have caught them, too.

As always, contact me if you have any questions. 

Infernal Regards,

Malice

Vice President of the 8th Circle of Hell

 (Global Initiatives Branch)

Editor’s Notes:

1. “God, life, and progressive culture” is the tagline of RELEVANT, a Christian magazine covering pop culture established in 2004.

Cover Photo by Craig Whitehead on Unsplash