Dear Wormwood,

As you know, Tim is very susceptible to sin. To attack certain areas would be a waste of time, but other areas have been a struggle in his life for years. Hit him there and hit him hard! After several years of your diligence you can probably let him go and he’ll function on his own in sin. Just check up on him every once in a while and make sure our plan is still operating as planned.

As you might have noticed in your initial observations of Tim, he becomes the weakest under two conditions: First, when his is stressed and usually upset about another area of his life. Take advantage of these opportunities! Create stress in his relationships, his ministry, his family, his finances, and any other area that is close to him. Second, when he is unmotivated to do the tasks he knows he must do. Catch him when he has a lot of work. In fact, keep him distracted by creating many unnecessary tasks that seem really important!

On the outside he appears to many people to be the perfect guy, someone people of all ages admire, respect, and trust. However, sometimes his own hypocrisy defeats him on the inside as he struggles with God working effectively through his gifts but seemingly inactive with the areas in which he desperately needs God’s transformation.

The odd thing with Tim that you should probably be aware of is that he often doesn’t see a payoff in defeating his struggle. He knows sin will destroy him and his relationship with God. He thinks about it often and finds ways to fight it, but somehow he eventually returns to his folly anyway. It’s really quite comical. He’s a perfect example of a fool returning to his vomit.

I’ve tried convincing him that it’s not a big deal — no one is perfect and everyone struggles with sin. Sometimes he buys the excuse, but then the H.S. (you know who I mean) reminds him that Christ is the standard, not other people around him. Watch out for those times and intensify the pressure until he cracks.

I trust that ensuring Tim’s demise will be a fairly easy assignment for you, Wormwood. Check on him once in a while and make sure our plan is successful. Otherwise, don’t worry — he’s a fool.

Have fun!
Screwtape

Posted on June 11, 2008