The “Christianity and” Syndrome

The “Christianity and” Syndrome

C.S. Lewis once said that the same thing happens in Christianity; it’s what you add to it that ruins it. In fact, C.S. Lewis called it the “Christianity and Syndrome;” where we link our faith to some other cause to which we are partial and say “this is the center of our faith.”

And so we hear from our pulpits that the main focus for us must be Christianity and Marxism, or Christianity and Capitalism, or Christianity and Social Action, or Christianity and Gun Control, or Christianity and the Republican Platform, or Christianity and the Pro-life Movement or Christianity and the Twelve Step program or Christianity and Homosexual Rights movement or anything else you might want to insert there.

And the fact is, that as soon as you add an “And” to Christianity you have lost your focus. A Christian worldview speaks to all of those important issues; but every one of them is peripheral to who we are. We are not Christians AND something else; we are Christians, and we let our faith guide us in all other decisions of life.

Gregory T. Riether