C.S. Lewis on the Modern Audience

In 1945, C.S. Lewis gave a talk to young ministers and youth workers in Wales. The title of his presentation was “Christian Apologetics.” I recently returned to this talk and was reminded again how rich of a resource it indeed is. Lewis’s outline of observations of his audience back is still helpful and insightful today.

Lewis described the general population as (1) skeptical of history, (2) distrustful of ancient texts, (3) lacking a sense of sin as defined by the Bible, (4) in need of theology to be interpreted in common language, and (5) responsive to an appeal that is both intellectual and emotional. They were, according to Lewis, far more eager to latch on to a contemporary scientific theory than to believe in events from 2,000 years ago. Complicating the situation is that much of theological information passed down from scholars is unclear.

Lewis told these young ministers they could not simply listen to someone else describe what kind of language the “common man” uses. They must learn themselves, in their contexts, immersing themselves in the world of those they serve. Lewis raised the standard, saying someone shouldn’t even be ordained for ministry if the could not take an ancient Christian text and translated it into everyday language. I fear our seminaries and Christian universities would graduate far fewer students if their professors had to pass this test in oder to teach or their students in order to graduate.

Lewis warned that the Church could easily become distracted by politics. He noted that most ministers simply do not possess the requisite skills to give helpful political commentary, saying that most political sermons offer nothing more than an insight into what news source the minister is relying upon. Lewis encouraged these spiritual leaders to make it clear when they were giving political opinion, and to be careful not to confuse or equate their opinions with timeless truths.

Our audience isn’t all that different Lewis’s, particular in North America. And ministers’ ability to give helpful political commentary likely hasn’t improved all that much either, to understate the problem. Let’s focus on what matters most, God and people. Let’s spend a little more energy learning to better communicate our belief in God to real people, and less time brushing up the political arguments we learned from our favorite news site.