I had the privilege yesterday to attend the sneak preview for Azusa Pacific’s new Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, and among the treasures on display were some original manuscripts from C.S. Lewis. Featured was a poem by Lewis entitled, “A Cliche Came Out of its Cage.” I had not read this poem before, and as is typical of Lewis, it is quite heady stuff.
Lewis challenges the call to return to paganism, and he mocks the happy masses that choose to die alongside the waning dieties this world has magnified throughout the centuries:
“Walk carefully, do not wake the envy of the happy gods, shun Hubris. The middle of the road, the middle sort of men, are best.”
We have become a culture of political correctness, and since the Church has grown accustomed to following the trends of the world, we have become a Church of tolerance of sin, avoidance of difficult topics, and fear of opposition. We who were destined to be the backbone of society have abdicated our rightful reign in favor of ease and comfort. Every champion has his antagonist, and every hero has his conflict. It used to be said that we want the gain without the pain, we want the power without the proving ground, we want the kingdom without the war. Nowadays, I think the desire to reign has even been bred out of us, like some breed of dog that was once known for its ferocity, but over time has become a lazy lap dog.
Consider these lyrics from Living Color’s “Middle Man”:
Don’t want to be the one whose leading them, no, no
I’ve got no master plan
Just a simple middle man
Standing on a fine line between this and that…”
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