The Whole Purpose of Becoming a Christian

Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as [Christ] does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has - by what I call 'good infection'. Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.

- C. S. Lewis

So here, in one paragraph, Lewis boils things down to the base purpose of becoming a Christian.  I'll be honest, when asked, I have a hard time explaining the purpose of Christianity to others.  As much as I've seen, as much as I've read, as much as I've been taught, and as much as I've experienced, I have a hard time communicating my faith to others.  I fumble, I falter, and I fear.  I wonder if people will think I'm silly.  I wonder if I'll start to doubt what I believe based on their reaction.  I wonder if I'll make any sense at all.  Part of the reason is because while things like what Lewis wrote above seem pretty straightforward in what they are trying to say, in my estimation, there's still a mystery to it.  "Little Christ"?  "Sons of God"?  Holy Ghost "arising" in us?  I fully realize that Lewis' quote is taken out of context, and that with a larger sample of his writing he explains these terms with more exquisite clarity.  However, as clear as he is sometimes, I have difficulty hanging on to the concepts after I put what he wrote back on the shelf.  To love the Father as Christ does sounds like a really good thing, and to be sure, I believe it is not only a very good thing, I think it is the best thing.  The big question though is why is it the best thing?  What does loving God like Christ look like, and why in the world would it matter one hill of beans to me and to my next door neighbor if I were doing it?  I suppose that if I think about it hard enough I come to this realization:  God is the source of all goodness, the source of all joy, peace, happiness, and goodwill.  If I have goodwill towards myself, towards another, those things do not exist apart from God: they are Him, they are his qualities.  Now, without a strong connection to Him, and in some cases, with no conscious connection at all, these things can still work through me, and bless others, but only in very small and limited degrees.  If I am able to love the Father the way that Christ does - perfectly - then I would be in perfect  touch with and have full access to all his blessings, have the unending ability to stream love, care, compassion, grace, peace, goodwill, and joy from Him to anyone in my sphere of influence, including my neighbor.  It would seem to me that something like that would matter a whole hill of beans to me and to my neighbor (maybe even more than a whole hill of beans, maybe more than one iota).  Maybe becoming a Christian, and the purpose of Christianity is to reach our full potential as carriers of God's qualities, and to then shower those qualities on all creation so that it is awash in His brightness; the poison that permeates everything in this world in its current state having been eradicated by it all.  The better I am able to love God, the better I am able to obey Him, and thus the better I am able to open myself up as a channel for His qualities to flow through myself and on to others.  The purpose of becoming a Christian? I think is to cure creation.  Does that make any more sense than what Lewis said?  I don't know - I'm fumbling right now, and I feel a slight falter coming on...