In C. S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, he suggests the mission of Satan is to keep humanity from Jesus. The book contains conversations between Satan and his demons and in one such conversation, Satan cautions a demon to keep humans comfortable at all costs. He suggests that if they become concerned about anything of importance, the demon should encourage the human to think about their luncheon plans or shopping trip or day at the beach. He exclaims, “I, the devil, will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my demon is to provide me with people who do not care.” Satan wants us to be indifferent to the troubles of others. In doing so we go against God’s desire for humanity to be in harmonious loving relationships; relationships that displays holy love for God, for each other, for God’s natural creations, and for our selves.
The Screwtape Letters is a fictional book but the message is profound. It suggests that the goal of the evil one is not wickedness in humanity but indifference to it. God designed us to live in relationship with each other and so Satan encourages us to be indifferent to the dilemma facing our lost brothers and sisters. We unknowingly become part of Satan’s plan by ignoring those around us who are not Christ’s disciples.
The MCF’s mission it to bring Jesus’ hope to our military family; our serving and retired brothers and sisters and their families. We can only do this in holy love. Since the fall in the garden, it has not been in our nature to love humanity, as God desires. He knows this and offers us the Holy Spirit to grow our love and keep us vigilant and focused on God desires. There is a very real battle, which we enter daily and we should be prepared to do battle not only for ourselves but also for others. It is important to know we are not alone in this fight. Across this nation and in other nations around the world, there are many on board with the MCF’s vision to see the Gospel lived out in the lives of our military family. United we can fight the indifference.
Whether we feel battle worthy or not we can start our journey with prayer asking to be used to share God’s hope. We should also ask for protection from the evil one who will want to thwart our efforts. Then, ask God to help you identify someone you know who does not know God’s promises and be a friend, guide and mentor. Help them see that God is all around us in the form of His creation and that He wants us to be concerned about them. Daily we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus and be prepared to be used by Him. Daily we can make a difference in someone’s life. We have free will to choose and so we can be tempted to become indifferent. However we can also choose to fight and overcome it. Join the battle and seek to love one of God’s lost children.