THE CHARACTER OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

There are numerous Christians today who owe their faith, at least in part, to the writings of the Oxford professor C. S. Lewis. But throughout his teens and twenties, Lewis himself was a committed atheist. What led him to change his ways?

No single person persuaded Lewis to trust in Jesus Christ. Rather, it was the combined influence of many people through books, music, and personal encounters that made the difference. In “Surprised by Joy,” Lewis described the effect of simply encountering sane, responsible adults who believed in a [spiritual] world behind, or around, the material world.” He enjoyed G. K. Chesterton’s intelligence and sense of humor -- despite Chesterton’s Christian faith. He was both alarmed and fascinated when he met men who were much like himself but were actually “attempting strict veracity, chastity, or devotion to duty.” [At the time] Lewis himself was neither honest nor sexually pure, but he found himself respecting men who were committed to these traits without being passionless prudes. In Lewis’s case, the character of ordinary people proved more effective than hearing countless sermons. 

-- From “Beginning Life Together: God’s Purposes for Your Life” by Brett and Dee Eastman, Todd and Denise Wendorff, and Karen Lee-Thorp

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