In many organizations, institutions, churches, businesses, and schools there forms somehow and in some way what C.S. Lewis brilliantly described as the “Inner Ring.” One may reasonably claim every organization has an Inner Ring, that the Inner Ring is inevitable because of the hierarchy and leadership structure.
I suffer from the opposite extreme of the Inner Ringer crowd. I can’t easily stomach Inner Ring people, and move away from influencers and people who could help open doors for me. I’m naturally introverted, reclusive and stubbornly resist any acts of self-promotion. I relish, probably too much, the ideal of the no-name country pastor trying to be content with faithfully shepherding a flock for decades, out of the limelight — hugely influenced by Eugene Peterson, etc.
You’re probably nodding your head in approval of this other side of the spectrum, but I honestly struggle wondering if I’m too timid, too afraid of having increased influence, and too unwilling to promote my work and ideas. There’s another kind of misery that comes with remaining pent up like a wild horse in a stall, ready to break down the walls of obscurity and run free at last, but remaining caged out of insecurity and false modesty. I’m afraid I’ll look back at my vocational life and wonder if God had bigger things waiting, but I hid behind the guise of the faithful, obscure pastor because I was terrified and disgusted with getting near the Inner Ring of institutions I could have served. I cling to the (naive?) hope that if I’m faithful, I won’t need to toot my own horn to be elevated, but others will take notice and my name will be called in time. You know, take the lowly seats at the banquet, and then be upgraded if/when God desires. But in our Evangelical culture that rewards loud, pushy, self-promotional ladder climbers, who knows...
Lewis illustrated the dangers and disastrous effects of the inner ring in the third installment of his sci-fi trilogy, "That Hideous Strength." He also provides a "pocket of tov" into which the characters may fall. One of my favorite reads.
Thought: The thing that is so strange to me about an inner ring is that it is special only because people say it is. The secrets are valuable only because they are secret. If the secrets were public, they wouldn’t be valuable.
This leads to “loving the darkness”, which then becomes a shroud for all manner of sin, as 1 John says.
This feeds the “information control” part of a high control group, right?
And then behavior/thought/emotional control at accomplished by making people deathly afraid of losing access, so they’ll do anything the leader wants?
We just left our church because of an inner ring within the session (that my husband was part of fir 16 years). He was basically ‘canceled’ over the last few years whenever he disagreed or challenged the head pastor and the inner ring he created. Very sad. Your book A Church Called Tov was invaluable as it educated and affirmed us along this very sad journey. Thank you.
It’s amazing that a guy who died the day JFK was assassinated continues to speak with such relevance all these many years later. That probably means we should read and re-read Lewis more than we do.
From my place in life, the inner ring is deeply connected with the desire for power. That’s an ironic reality in light of Jesus’ claim that “all authority/power” was His. Could it be that the most dangerous (and corrupting?) aspect of power is that we are attempting to steal what rightly belongs exclusively to Him?
It may also be true that in my anti-Inner Ring behavior I can create a kind of parallel universe of lust for power that is already stolen from Jesus, with no real intent to give it back to the one to whom it actually belongs.
Thanks for such a good, timely, and desperately need reminder! TOV!
From an unnamed reader: thoughts?
I suffer from the opposite extreme of the Inner Ringer crowd. I can’t easily stomach Inner Ring people, and move away from influencers and people who could help open doors for me. I’m naturally introverted, reclusive and stubbornly resist any acts of self-promotion. I relish, probably too much, the ideal of the no-name country pastor trying to be content with faithfully shepherding a flock for decades, out of the limelight — hugely influenced by Eugene Peterson, etc.
You’re probably nodding your head in approval of this other side of the spectrum, but I honestly struggle wondering if I’m too timid, too afraid of having increased influence, and too unwilling to promote my work and ideas. There’s another kind of misery that comes with remaining pent up like a wild horse in a stall, ready to break down the walls of obscurity and run free at last, but remaining caged out of insecurity and false modesty. I’m afraid I’ll look back at my vocational life and wonder if God had bigger things waiting, but I hid behind the guise of the faithful, obscure pastor because I was terrified and disgusted with getting near the Inner Ring of institutions I could have served. I cling to the (naive?) hope that if I’m faithful, I won’t need to toot my own horn to be elevated, but others will take notice and my name will be called in time. You know, take the lowly seats at the banquet, and then be upgraded if/when God desires. But in our Evangelical culture that rewards loud, pushy, self-promotional ladder climbers, who knows...
Lewis illustrated the dangers and disastrous effects of the inner ring in the third installment of his sci-fi trilogy, "That Hideous Strength." He also provides a "pocket of tov" into which the characters may fall. One of my favorite reads.
Incredibly insightful and timely!
Thought: The thing that is so strange to me about an inner ring is that it is special only because people say it is. The secrets are valuable only because they are secret. If the secrets were public, they wouldn’t be valuable.
This leads to “loving the darkness”, which then becomes a shroud for all manner of sin, as 1 John says.
This feeds the “information control” part of a high control group, right?
And then behavior/thought/emotional control at accomplished by making people deathly afraid of losing access, so they’ll do anything the leader wants?
What can the Gospels teach us about the "inner ring" in how Jesus dealt with James, John, and Peter?
We just left our church because of an inner ring within the session (that my husband was part of fir 16 years). He was basically ‘canceled’ over the last few years whenever he disagreed or challenged the head pastor and the inner ring he created. Very sad. Your book A Church Called Tov was invaluable as it educated and affirmed us along this very sad journey. Thank you.
It’s amazing that a guy who died the day JFK was assassinated continues to speak with such relevance all these many years later. That probably means we should read and re-read Lewis more than we do.
From my place in life, the inner ring is deeply connected with the desire for power. That’s an ironic reality in light of Jesus’ claim that “all authority/power” was His. Could it be that the most dangerous (and corrupting?) aspect of power is that we are attempting to steal what rightly belongs exclusively to Him?
It may also be true that in my anti-Inner Ring behavior I can create a kind of parallel universe of lust for power that is already stolen from Jesus, with no real intent to give it back to the one to whom it actually belongs.
Thanks for such a good, timely, and desperately need reminder! TOV!