In Letter 6 of the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, the demons discuss a strategy to use against their human targets, promoting sending all their benevolence far and keeping their malice close. The idea is that people should be filled with good and heartfelt feelings for those they’ll never meet and never interact with, while becoming increasingly uncharitable towards family members, co-workers, and neighbors, whose faults are difficult to avoid. The outcome is summed up in the text:
The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.
The demon Screwtape sees it as far more effective to keep the focus of benevolence in the realm where it is primarily imaginary, than to try and eliminate it all together. When I read quotes like this it often makes it seem like many of the things in our modern world were created by demons. In the modern world, our options are unlimited for both our benevolence and malice. I touched on this early this year on an article on Deceptive Compassion.
We might recognize ourselves in one of the following vignettes:
- “Sarah the Advocate” – Sarah shares every new petition and crisis, feels outrage for each fresh injustice, but refuses to talk to the church member she resents for an offhand comment. Her heart burns for strangers; it’s cold toward sisters in Christ.
- “James the Watchman” – James stays up late arguing politics with strangers online, confident he is defending truth. The next morning he is too exhausted to play with his kids or show patience to a tired coworker. His “zeal” is remote; his annoyance is reserved for those closest.
- “The Compassionate Commenter” – A woman leaves heartfelt comments on posts about trauma and suffering worldwide, yet rolls her eyes at her husband’s worries, labels her neighbor “lazy,” and has no time to listen to the lonely widow down the street.
It is easy to fall prey to this trap. Whether it is a demon on your shoulder, actively whispering for you to engage in these behaviors, the pattern of the world we’re going along with, or own sinful desires, there is a constant temptation to spend our best emotions and energy on that which we have no ability to impact positively.
As Christians, we should be wary of the danger and on guard for the temptation to fall for this ploy. Know that you can easily be drawn into a path that is either unproductive or potentially destructive. The wisdom of God’s Word is a helpful antidote to help us as we navigate these challenges.
| Screwtape’s Pattern | God’s Wisdom | Modern Application |
| Loving people in theory while resenting people nearby | 1 John 4:20–21 | Love for the unseen God is contradicted when we hate or habitually mistreat a brother or sister whom we can actually see. A polished online testimony cannot compensate for contempt at home. |
| Treating “humanity” as an abstraction | Luke 10:25–37 | In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus turns “Who is my neighbor?” into “Whom can I serve?” The person in front of us in need is our neighbor. |
| Mistaking words and intentions for actual charity | 1 John 3:16–18 | Christian love must move beyond speech and sentiment into “deed and truth.” Sharing a post about suffering may be worthwhile, but it should not replace lived out mercy, generosity, prayer, or presence. |
| Allowing online anger to become a form of righteousness | James 1:19–20 | Scripture commands believers to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger because human anger does not produce God’s righteousness. This directly challenges impulsive replies, quote-posts, and comment-section outrage. |
| Using speech to injure people made in God’s image | Ephesians 4:29–32 | Christian speech should build up, give grace, and put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. The passage applies as readily to captions and comments as to spoken conversation. |
| Neglecting ordinary duties while pursuing grand causes | 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 | Paul joins brotherly love with quiet faithfulness: living quietly, minding one’s own affairs, and working responsibly. The Christian life is not less spiritual because its love is expressed through ordinary, repeated duties. |
| Loving distant believers while criticizing one’s local church | Galatians 6:10 | Believers should do good to everyone, but especially to the household of faith. Online concern for the worldwide church should deepen—not diminish—commitment to the actual congregation and people nearby. |
Biblical wisdom should inform all of our interactions and real life is lived in community, with those who are in your presence or who you interact with in a pattern according to the Biblical commands to love and serve one another. Obedience to the next step may be contacting a former friend or colleague who you have alienated in recent days, even as you spread your imaginary benevolence to the world. Reconciliation is found through humble repentance.
Seeing God 