Context: Inspired by C.S. Lewis’s classic – The Screwtape Letters, this fictional series features letters from a senior demon to his young protégé, exposing hell’s subtle strategies against believers. These are not meant to amuse, but to awaken.

This isn’t just satire – it’s a mirror. A sharp one. Because sometimes the enemy’s strategies sound uncomfortably familiar.

My dear Wormwood,

You seem far too focused on keeping your patient out of church. Let me remind you: some of our best work happens in the pews.

We need not fear his church attendance, not if we can rob it of wonder.

Let him sing. Let him raise his hands. Let him memorize lyrics.
But whatever you do, keep his heart disengaged. That is the key.

Turn worship into noise. Turn the sanctuary into a stage. Turn holy lyrics into mere melodies. Replace adoration with obligation. Let him come to sing songs without ever offering his soul.

And should he feel a stirring? Should a lyric awaken something deep?
Quickly remind him of lunch plans. The song selection. The slightly off-key worship leader. 

Distract. Diffuse. Dull.

You see, the Enemy is terrifyingly present in praise. He inhabits it. (Psalm 22:3, oh how I loathe that verse.) When humans worship in spirit and in truth, it’s as if they tear holes in our darkness. And we can’t have that.

So turn it into performance. Turn it into preference.

Make worship about the song list. The lighting. The volume. The atmosphere. Let him rate the experience rather than meet the Eternal.

Because if he truly glimpses the Majesty of the One they call Holy, if he’s undone like Isaiah, crying “Woe is me”, well, we’ve lost him.

Never let him realize that worship isn’t a moment; it’s a lifestyle. It’s sacrifice. It’s surrender. It’s washing feet. It’s dying to self.

Oh, how the Enemy delights in worship that costs them something. And how we despise it.

Don’t let your patient ask, “Am I giving Him my best?” Instead, let him ask, “Did I enjoy the service?”

Let him chase emotion without devotion. Let him crave chills over conviction. Let him clap to the beat but never bow to the Lord.

And whatever you do, never let him understand this:

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth…”
— John 4:23

True worship is dangerous to our cause, Wormwood. It is weapon and offering, altar and fire. And when humans worship rightly, even their chains begin to rattle.

So our only hope is to make it mechanical.
Make it casual.
Make it about them.

Keep the songs coming.
Just keep the hearts cold.

Your ever-admiring uncle,
Screwtape