When we define Christianity too loosely, we lose its substance. Too narrowly, and we lose its grace. Lewis and Baxter show us a better way, one rooted in Christ alone.



In his preface to his classic work, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis explained the title of his book:

Ever since I became a Christian I have thought that the best, perhaps the only, service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times… to expound “mere” Christianity, which is what it is and was what it was long before I was born and whether I like it or not…. It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted.

Speaking of “mere” Christianity was first put forward by the 17th-century Anglican writer Richard Baxter, which Lewis readily acknowledges. Baxter lived through the English Civil War between the Protestants and the Catholics, and, as a Protestant Puritan, Baxter threw his support behind Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentary forces. Cromwell then summoned Baxter from his church in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, to help establish the “fundamentals of religion” for the new Protestant government. Baxter did what he asked, but Cromwell complained that Baxter’s summary of Christianity could be affirmed by a Catholic. To which Baxter said, “Good!” Baxter refused to allow Christianity to divide people that way. Or to fall prey to the latest fashion or sect. Christianity was bigger than that. He was convinced that there was a core of orthodox Christianity that Puritans, Anglicans, and Catholics all affirmed and that should have been a source of peace among them.

Here’s what he wrote in 1680:

Must you know what Sect or Party I am of? I am against all Sects and dividing Parties: but if any will call Mere Christian by the name of a Party.... I am of that Party which is so against Parties.... I am a CHRISTIAN, a MERE CHRISTIAN, of no other religion.

What stands out to me is how Lewis spoke of “mere Christianity,” and Baxter spoke of “Mere Christian.” The former spoke of bringing others into the hallway, while the latter spoke of a personal disposition.

In our current context, I cannot help but wish more would embrace both sentiments. There are obviously two extremes. The first is to define “Christianity” or “Christian” in the loosest possible terms, to the point of calling anyone who does something good or noble a “Christian” or a model of “Christianity.” The other extreme is to define it so narrowly in terms of doctrine and practice that the terms “Christian” or “Christianity” reflect ideology even more than theology.

But “mere” Christianity allows for there to be, in Lewis’ terms, many rooms off the hall in which to enter. And “it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals.” He then rightly adds:

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong, they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.

This runs against the major currents of our day, which is to continually narrow the definition of your tribe and then cancel as many voices outside of it as possible. In many ways, it is the difference between placing yourself in the center of things as opposed to placing Christ in the center of things.

And as Lewis ended his book:

Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

So give me not only mere Christianity, but mere Christians… and in the process, merely Christ.

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