C.S. Lewis Upsets Me Again!

As a family, we are reading that great C.S. Lewis classic, The Screwtape Letters. I don't think any Christian could read that book without being convicted about some aspect of their life. And I had my "C.S. Lewis moment" just this Sunday.

For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it is a series of letters from a senior demon to a junior one, giving the junior demon advice on how to win the soul of his "patient". In one letter, the junior demon has been unable to keep his patient from going to church. The senior demon advises him that this is not a problem, as long as he can make his patient into a "church shopper". In other words, make him look down on his fellow parishioners, keep him looking for the "right" church, etc.

We read this chapter on Saturday. On Sunday, I was sitting in the sanctuary, waiting for the service to begin, when a family came in. This family had a teenage girl, and this girl was wearing extremely short shorts. I immediately thought, "My! I would never allow my daughter to dress like that! And esp. for church!" Then I said to myself, what am I thinking? Here I am, behaving just the way C.S. Lewis warned against, judging others who dare to attend "my" church! Here was a teenage girl, attending church with her family! Would I really rather she not be there at all? While I disagree with her clothing choices, she has as much right to God's grace as I have.