First and Second Things
April 24, 2026 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
C.S. Lewis wrote his essay, “First and Second Things,” in 1942. It speaks about prioritizing that which is truly valuable. Partly it was a response to the folly of Germany fighting for second things and thus losing both first and second things. Lewis also is addressing the concern of losing civilization. He contends that civilization is a second thing and should not be the priority of human activity. In this essay, he states his core principle: “Every preference of a small good to a great, or a partial good to a total good, involves the loss of the small or partial good for which the sacrifice was made” (God in the Dock, p. 310).
Lewis illustrates this principle with a woman who makes her dog the center of her life. He explains that in the end she loses “not only her human usefulness and dignity but even the proper pleasure of dog-keeping.” He also applies the principle to alcohol. If one makes alcohol one’s ultimate pursuit, he will lose “not only his job but his palate and all power of enjoying the earlier (and only pleasurable) levels of intoxication.”
About the same time period, Lewis was giving his radio talks that would eventually be published as the book Mere Christianity. In his chapter on Hope he brings us this same principle of first and second things as it applies to a Christian’s longing for heaven. He writes, “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither” (p. 134).
Lewis returns to this principle in later writings and applies it to other scenarios. In a letter to Mrs. Johnson, dated November 8, 1952, Lewis writes, “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.” Now Lewis makes explicit what was only implied in his earlier essay. God is the greatest good and should always be our chief end. Nothing and no one should take the place of God in our hearts. More than that, though, when God has his proper place in our pursuits, all of our other pursuits are enhanced, not suppressed, as Lewis explains.
Then, in his 1960 published work, The Four Loves, Lewis applies the principle to friendship. He writes, “That is why those pathetic people who simply ‘want friends’ can never make any. The very condition of having Friends is that we should want something else besides Friends. Where the truthful answer to the question Do you see the same truth? would be ‘I see nothing and I don’t care about the truth; I only want a Friend,’ no Friendship can arise — though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travelers” (The Inspirational Writings of C.S. Lewis, p. 249).
Lewis sounds harsh by calling these people “pathetic,” but the principle is true. Friendship cannot be the “first thing” in a friendship. Romantic love might put the other person as the first thing, which would be detrimental if God is not the highest priority. But Friendship only arises when something else is the “first thing” between two people, which Lewis calls the “same truth” in the quote above. Friendship grows as two people stand side by side looking towards the same object.
The application of this principle for you and me is fairly simple to state: keep the first things first. The challenge is to put this into practice. We let second things dominate our minds, our time, and our resources. Perhaps the starting point is simply to pray and ask God for help in reordering our lives. The appeal of Proverbs 4:23 serves as a warning, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” And the prayer of Psalm 86:11 guides our request, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.”
