In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis
writes about a young man who is plagued by a red lizard that sits on his
shoulder. The lizard mocks the young man. Lewis, in his creative way, uses the
lizard to represent the inner struggle that we all have with our sinful
natures. Lewis tells of an angel who comes and offers to get rid of the lizard.
The young man is excited beyond words at the idea until he realizes how much
pain is involved in the process. Doesn’t that sound familiar? The angel declares
that he will use a fire to kill the lizard. The young man is unwilling to
endure the fire necessary to destroy the lizard. Consequently, the young man tries
to negotiate 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 says, “In this moment are all moments. Either you want
the red lizard to live or you do not.” As soon as the lizard sees the reluctance
of the young man, he reasons with him.[1]
Be careful. He can do what he says. He can kill me.
One fatal word from you and he will. Then you’ll be without me forever and
ever. It’s not natural. How could you live? You’ll only be a sort of a ghost,
not a real man as you are now. He doesn’t understand. He’s only a cold,
bloodless, abstract thing. It may be natural for him, but it’s not natural for
us. I know there are no real pleasures, only dreams, but aren’t they better
than nothing? I’ll be so good. 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.[2]
When you
think about it, Lewis, in creating the narrative of this young man, was telling
our stories. Here we see and hear our conversation with the red lizard as our
conversation we have in our heads. It is so easy to rationalize, “Just this
time. It’s not all that bad. I know that God will forgive me. I know where this
is going. This feels too right to be wrong.” These are nothing more than words
of compromise that forfeit our integrity. In Lewis’ story the young man finally
surrenders, which is the key to God’s blessings in our lives.
Bryan Chapell
writes:
The angel in C. S. Lewis’s story does grasp the
lizard and with fiery hands begins to choke it so that it finally dies and
falls to the ground. But when it hits the ground, it becomes a stallion, and
the young man gets on it and rides. What had been the ruler is now ruled. What
had been his master, he now masters. What had ridden him, he now rides. It’s C.
S. Lewis’s great expression that when we actually kill the sin, the things that
were so hard actually become good and freeing and wonderful to us. Secular
surveys of the sexuality in our culture say that those with monogamous,
faithful marriages claim greater sexual fulfillment than those who are
promiscuous. How can that be? Because God is saying that to honor him is to
actually find the greatest fulfillment, the greatest riches that we were made
to find.[3]
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