There was a time, early in the flower of my Christian faith, when I adored this book and thought myself, if not exactly equal to its challenges, at least in a position to consider them. Later, I started picking holes in Lewis’ arguments and finding reasons why I didn’t have to listen to what he said.
This morning, I opened up “Mere Christianity” randomly and found the following passage, which nailed me right flat to the wall:
We might think that, provided you did the right thing, it did not matter how or why you did it — whether you did it willingly or unwillingly, sulkily or cheerfully, through fear of public opinion or for its own sake. But the truth is that right actions done for the wrong reasons do not help to build the internal quality or character called a “virtue,” and it is this quality or character that really matters.
Well, shinola! No wonder I’m not getting anywhere!
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