Nice People or New Men
God wants to completely restore us into his image.
In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis has a chapter titled “Nice People or New Men.”
If you are a nice person—if virtue comes easily to you—beware! Much is expected from those to whom much is given. If you mistake your ease for virtue, it is a fatal mistake.
If you are a poor creature—poisoned by a wretched upbringing in some house full of vulgar jealousies and senseless quarrels—saddled, by no choice of your own, with some loathsome sexual perversion—nagged day in and day out by an inferiority complex that makes you snap at your best friends—do not despair.
He knows all about it.
You are one of the poor whom He blessed.
He knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive.
Keep on.
Do what you can.
One day (perhaps in another world, but perhaps far sooner than that) He will fling it on the scrap-heap and give you a new one. And then you may astonish us all—not least yourself: for you have learned your driving in a hard school. (Some of the last will be first and some of the first will be last.)
What Lewis is suggesting is that merely being a "nice person" is insufficient in the grand scheme of Christian living.
If we are some of those who find virtue easy, he is warning us not to confuse our natural disposition (something we did not strive and suffer to become) for true moral excellence. There is more expected from all who live in worldly abundance, even if we didn’t grow up in it.
The primary objective of living, for those who trust God, has never been about achieving enough to become comfortable in this life.
The primary objective is to become, over time, closer to behaving more like Jesus every day, and this is not possible without accepting a level of discomfort – emotional, physical, or both – even to the point of death on a particular cross God will select.
Conversely, Lewis offers hope to those who struggle with deep-seated flaws and challenges, emphasizing that their efforts are recognized by God. He acknowledges the difficult "machines" they are trying to operate and reassures them of divine understanding and support.
Lewis encourages those who are suffering to persevere, promising transformation (what others will see) and relief (how we will eventually feel), whether in this life or the next. Ultimately, he suggests that those who face greater struggles might achieve greater glory, inverting conventional expectations of who will be first or last in God’s kingdom.
[Matthew 19:30, 20:16, Mark 10:31, Luke 13:30]