Screwtape Letters Reflection 4: On Dying to Self

The Screwtape Letters Reflection… 4th Sunday of Lent

In the Christian faith there is an emphasis placed upon “dying to self.” This concept is an essential component of the dynamic of death and resurrection, the dying and rising to new life that we are all called to in Jesus Christ. This dynamic can sound a little rough on modern ears accustomed to the glorifying of our individuality. Dying to self? Is there nothing good about myself? Could it really be that my only hope of salvation is in dying to myself and becoming part of Christ? Wouldn’t that mean losing all my individuality, all of myself, and dissolving into God?

Screwtape discusses with Wormwood exactly the character of the dying to self that God desires in his 13th letter. “Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamor of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.” The goal of dying to self in Christianity is not an elimination of our individuality, but merely an end to “the clamor of self-will.” With the defect of our riotous self-will removed, we are actually empowered to become more fully and truly ourselves; the selves that God created us to be. 

How might we come to recognize this new, full, and true self? What are the characteristics that differentiate it from our prior selves? These new selves are what Screwtape describes as the long term policy of God for human lives. “”He wants to kill their animal self-love as soon as possible; but it is His long-term policy, I fear, to restore to them a new kind of self-love- a charity and gratitude for all selves, including their own; when they have really learned to love their neighbors as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as their neighbors.” Our new and true selves, fashioned through the grace of God, will be able to love and appreciate ourselves just as we truly love and appreciate our neighbors. May we ever strive for that goal, and may we always rely on the grace of God to achieve it. Amen. 

Pastor Andrew Greenhaw