The Pesky Lizard

 

As a counselor, I deal with dysfunction a lot, and some of that dysfunction comes from addiction. Most people who are addicted to a substance never think they are. Their first response is denial. “Me an alcoholic? Not me. I can stop anytime. I have stopped before. I get up and go to work every day. I am not like these people that have to have a drink, or they will die. I can take it or leave it.”

One of the greatest concerns I have for Christians, especially the family, is the degree to which we are desensitized by sin. Place a frog in a pot of water and heat it gradually, and the frog will not jump out but will allow itself to be boiled alive. In the 21st we are easily desensitized and do not like to be told that we are enslaved to our appetites and passions.

In his book, The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis, writes about a young man and a lizard (I imagine it looked like the Geico lizard) that constantly harasses him. The lizard mocks the young man’s regret. The lizard sits on his shoulder and exercises a deviant influence upon the young man. The lizard enjoyed tempting the young man and had great success in inducing him to choose the wrong paths—paths that brought him shame and regret.

Lewis uses the lizard to represent the inner struggle we all have with our sinful natures. In a conversation with God, the young man admits his relationship with the lizard, and God sends an angel to rid the young man of the irksome lizard.

At first, the young man was delighted at the idea of getting rid of the lizard until he learned that pain was involved. The angel would use fire to kill the lizard. The young man was frightened by the idea of fire, so he attempted to bargain with the angel. “Maybe it won’t be necessary to kill the lizard completely; maybe we can just wound him. Maybe another time would be better—a later date? The angel asserted, “In this moment are all moments. Either you want the red lizard to live or you do not.”

The lizard also offers his argument to reject the angel’s help. Be careful. “How could you live? You’ll only be a hollow person, not a real man as you are now. I admit I’ve gone too far in the past, but I promise I won’t do it again. I’ll give you nothing but really nice dreams, all sweet and fresh and almost innocent.”

How many times does the lizard convince us we are just fine? We rationalize, “Just this time. It’s not all that bad. God will forgive me. I won’t let it go too far.” This isn’t really a problem; I can stop anytime I want. Everybody is doing it anyway. We, too, refuse to let God rid the lizards that daily harass us.

In Lewis’s story, the young man concedes to the angel, and the fire does its work as the young experiences its pain. When the angel chokes the lizard, it falls to the ground and dies. But when it hits the ground, it becomes a powerful stallion, and the young man gets on it and rides it. What had been the ruler is now ruled? What had been his master, he now masters. What had ridden him, he now rides. It is wonderful to live free of the power of sin and our sinful passions. Only Christ can give us that freedom. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).