THE UNDRAGONING OF EUSTACE SCRUBB

(Post by: Michelle Hobbs)

Who are the extraordinary Christians that you know, or know of, that are on fire for Jesus? The people who exude love for Him and can’t help but share that love with those around them. They have a continuous thirst for the Word; a daily desire to know God and make Him known. What makes them so passionate?

Now, think about most “Christians” you know. The weekly church goer; content with an hour or two a week of preaching; doing precious little else to advance their faith. Why do they seem to lack such passion as compared to the first group you thought of? Most importantly, why is this group the majority?

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. About how the American Church is lacking in fervor, stagnant in our faith, ineffective even though we have the good news that our hurting world, co-workers, school mates, and friends are longing for.

There have been mentors in my life, praise the Lord, who fall into the first camp of Christians who exude a life-long love of Christ and follow His commands to their last day here on earth. I so long to be like them!

So I contemplate… What was/is different about those passionate Christians?

Something was revealed to me in last night’s small group. We are taking a class on C. S. Lewis; his conversion and commentary on Christianity by Hillsdale College. In last night’s lecture, the professor discussed the images and stories Lewis provides us regarding salvation and sanctification.

What I realized was…

Salvation is painful. The pain is a sign of true conversion and sanctification.

Take, for example, the scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader where Eustace has been turned into a dragon by his selfishness and greed, an outward image of his inner depravity.

Lewis writes about Eustace, “Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.”

At first, Eustace, who was indeed prideful, yet incredibly insecure in his human nature, was relieved to find that he had been turned into the biggest, most dangerous creature around, until he realizes that this creature he has become cuts him off from humanity. It cuts him off from the human he is supposed to become. At that point, he desperately wants to change.

Eustace attempts three times to peel the ugly scales off himself only to find another layer of ugliness underneath.

And it is at that desperate moment that the lion, Aslan, the image of Christ in this story, comes to save Eustace.

Eustace recounts his salvation to another character, Edmund, who himself had been saved by Aslan.

“Then the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt.

The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know—if you’ve ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” said Edmund.

“Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt—and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me—I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on—and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again.”

In my opinion, this is the most beautiful picture of salvation I have ever read. I love that it also depicts the fact that Eustace can’t help but share his experience, and that Edmund, who was also saved by Aslan, says “I know exactly what you mean.”

Do you, my fellow desperate creature, know exactly what he means?

Have you tried all the self-help strategies in an attempt to pull off your own scales, only to find temporary relief then finding that you have sadly ended up back where you started?

Have you stood with one foot in Aslan’s country and one foot in the world, never quite being able to make that complete transition into the new creation you are meant to be?

It is painful to let go of the things we think will bring us joy. The things we think make us big and dangerous in this world. However, we know they ultimately leave us longing for the true source of joy.

The only thing that can make a human truly happy and fulfilled is to become human you were created to be; an image bearer of Christ.

Oh, how I long to be like Eustace and Edmund and the Christian mentors who have shown me what true happiness is!

It is not in solely being a church goer, hearing or reading stories of salvation, or having a family heritage of Christianity.

It is in having a painfully, wonderful salvation experience in which you let Christ rip away the scales of your sin to reveal the new creation He died for you to be. Then being careful to remember that experience and share it with others daily.

Those who do are the Christians that hold on to their passionate faith for all their days.

It is only in this way that we can live with the peace and passion that we all long for.

Let Him grab hold of you and throw you into the water so that you can truly become a boy again.

SO, WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

= In what ways did this post impact you?

= What are you going to do differently?