💬 Leaving the Church Due to Disappointment with Ministers: A Theological Reflection Based on The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

 💬 Leaving the Church Due to Disappointment with Ministers: A Theological Reflection Based on The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

1. Introduction

In today’s church communities, disappointment with ministers has become one of the leading causes of member attrition. This disappointment often goes beyond mere emotional reaction, weakening communal bonds, confusing spiritual identity, and ultimately severing one’s relationship with God. This article seeks to explore how disappointment in people can become a tool of demonic temptation that structurally threatens faith, using The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis as a primary framework.

“The Church is a community of broken and weak sinners journeying toward Heaven.
Is it possible that in expecting the perfection of Jesus, we turn away because of the imperfection of pastors and fellow believers?”

2. Why is Disappointment in People Spiritually Dangerous?

2.1 Transference of Expectations: Projecting Divine Attributes onto Humans

Many believers unconsciously project the attributes of Christ onto their spiritual leaders. When ministers fail morally or spiritually, the unrealistic expectations placed upon them cause a collapse in the believer’s overall faith. This misdirected transference often distorts one’s perception of God and leads to spiritual disillusionment.

3. The Psychology of Temptation in The Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis presents a vivid pattern of temptation in The Screwtape Letters. One particularly telling quote reads:

“If the patient knows that the Church is full of weak, hypocritical people, that’s perfect. Let him focus on their sins, and forget the One whom they follow.”

(In this context, “the patient” refers to the believer being tempted, and “the One whom they follow” refers to Jesus Christ.)

3.1 Weaponizing Disappointment

Screwtape—an experienced demon—instructs his protégé Wormwood to use the disappointments, contradictions, and hypocrisies experienced within the church as tools to disrupt the believer’s spiritual journey. This strategy mirrors the psychological mechanism known as cognitive dissonance, where internal conflict leads to questioning the very structure of one’s faith.

Many believers leave the church in pain, frustration, and heartbreak.
Their cry is sincere: “Is this what the church is really supposed to be?”
But Lewis helps us recognize: this moment is the most dangerous point of temptation.

4. Church Departure: Not Just Criticism, but a Crisis of Relationship

4.1 From Disappointment to Isolation

While criticism can be necessary for the church’s maturity, when not accompanied by the intent of restoration, it often leads to spiritual isolation and cynicism. Lewis describes this as “religious self-consciousness without faith,” resulting in a deepened distrust under the guise of religious insight.

5. A Theological Alternative: The Church as a Training Ground, Not Heaven

In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis depicts the church as a gathering of Christ’s disciples who are yet incomplete. Theologically, the church is a space for sanctification—a process filled with friction, conflict, and weakness due to human imperfection.
Despite this, believers are called to remain, because the church provides the organic soil in which one grows in Christ.

6. Conclusion and Pastoral Exhortation

Disappointment with ministers may, at times, be justified. However, when it leads to withdrawal from the church and eventually to estrangement from God, it may reflect a spiritually dangerous response—one influenced by demonic temptation.

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters helps us discern the enemy’s strategy: using “disappointment” to lure believers away from God.
In the midst of human brokenness within the church, Christians must hold firmly to the truth that Jesus Christ alone is the standard and center of our faith.

🔎 References

  • C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, HarperOne.

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Harper & Row.

  • Eugene Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant, Eerdmans.

  • Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, Abingdon Press.




#C.SLewis#TheScrewtapeLetters#ChurchDisappointment#ChristianFaith#SpiritualTemptation#Pastoralinistry#FaithDeconstruction#ChurchCommunity#Sanctification#SpiritualGrowth#TheologyOfChurch#CognitiveDissonance#ChristianPsychology#LeavingTheChurch#GospelCentered#ChurchCriticism#JesusChristAlone#FaithCrisis#ChristianReflection#SpiritualWarfare

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